Friends and Foes
by SpitefulHope
Summary: Chapters 16-21 are now up! Sorry it took so long guys!
1. Friends and Foes: Prologue

Author's note: Most of the characters in this result of permanent insanity don't belong to us.  So please don't sue me! You'll get nothing more than.... ::digs through purse:: A pez dispenser,a stick of gum, a nail file, two watermelon lifesavers and an empty cinnamon Altoids can. That's all I got! _Honest!_

If you're an avid follower of the crossover circuit, or hell, if you haven't been under a rock for the last few years, you should know at least two or three of the things we've stuck in here and most likely who they belong to. But for reasons beyond me, we have decided to set aside a section at the end, just for acknowledgements. If curious as to who someone is, or if you're looking for a specific credit, look there. Thank-you, The Management. 

And For those of you who **care**: If you can spot (that _doesn't_ mean looking in the acknowledgements and cheating!)  all the cameo appearances in this massive story of epic proportions, and name them all back to me with the situation they're in; I, Robyn [caoscause@home.com], will personally hunt you down and give you a lap dance. (And I, Sean, will give you the greatest prize of all time!-- the Invisible Nickel!) 

**Friends and Foes**

**Prologue: Introduction to Confusion**   
_(Getting the crap outta the way; or Even transdimensional beings need to spin the occasional yarn... Or two....)_

"Oh Gatekeeper!" calls out an amused contralto voice. "Come out come out, where-ever you are!" calls the owner of the voice-- a woman possessing great height and bearing, who stands, carrying herself like royalty. 

"Go away, Lilith." replies a surly voice from the other side of the gate. "I'm busy watching Pamela Lee and her husband.... I mean-" suddenly sounding worried, the voice shifts upward in scale to become thunderous and booming.  "**BE GONE, LILITH OF THE OMNIVERSE!!** Pressing matter's arise in the time-stream even now." 

The tall beauty shakes her head, swishing straight, ebony hair from side to side. "Uh-huh. Suuure.... Do I **look** like I was born yesterday?!" 

"Depending on who you ask and on which variation of the 4th dimension your particular species sees, you WERE born yesterday." replies the voice, now sounding amused. 

The woman, Lilith, waves a hand regally in response. "Technical mumbo-jumbo won't frighten me, GK. Now come out." she looks miffed, until she suddenly grins sadistically. "Or else!" 

"Just a moment...." the voice gushes, as sounds rattle from beyond the cold iron gate. There's a blast of cold currents and a dark shimmering in the air infront of Lilith as the GateKeeper appears. Little more than a shadow in the vague shape of a man, he disdained taking corporeal form. "What do you require of me?" he says, seemingly exasperated at this interruption. 

"Yay!" Lilith says, then golf claps and plops onto the ground, grinning like a kid in a candy store. "Wanna hear a story?" she asks looking at TGK expectantly, her violet eyes unblinking. 

"Do I have a choice?" 

Lilith cocks her head, as if seriously pondering the question. "Not really." she then gestures to spot next to her. "You might want to sit down, it's an epic of heroic proportions!" 

"Oh, god...you didn't go and create another The Stand, didja?" asks the keeper of the gate between the dimensions. The man who's respnsiblilty is to keep people where they belong. 

"No," then she raises a delicate eyebrow and grins, "But then-again... I **could** if you wanted me to..." 

"NO!! No, please not that again!!!" TGK sits down,not wanting to incur her peculiar form of wrath. "I'll listen... Ummm... will I miss dinner, though?" 

Lilith just shrugs.  "Does it matter? You can teleport in food!" As if to demonstrate, she snaps her fingers and a glass of thin red 'wine' appears. "See what I mean?" she asks, smiling and taking a perfunctory sip. 

"True...." he replies, then burps and a coke appears."I'm just a teenager at heart..." 

Lilith scowls and sticks out her tongue in distaste."No kidding!" 

"Anyway's, enough with the thinly veiled insults." at this he winked. "What's this story about?" 

"It's about a universe that never existed, but survives anyway." 

"Nonsense." Replies the GateKeeper. "I'd know aboutany place such as that. Omniversal monitoring and policing power's and all that...." 

Creating a newspaper from thin air, Lilith smacked him lightly on the forehead and told him "Shush and listen!" 

"I'm talking about a universe," she continues, "that never **really** existed, but in word alone. You do know Robyn's Theory on Dimensional Proportions Directly Related to Author's Profession, right?" 

Suddenly, a look of fierce concentration came over the GateKeeper. "Uh...Robyn's...theory...complicated...mind...in...pain...can't....stop... speaking...like...Shatner......explain it again, please." 

Lilith heaves a big sigh and begins. "Well, the person I'm speaking of believes that when a writer writes, they create more than a story. They create a universe. That author has _control_ over that universe. Occasionally, a writer (or two) creates a world so complicated that it has to be set aside and labeled 'Nonexistent' so it doesn't bother anybody. Get what I mean?" she finishes, glancing at TGK. 

"Hmmm" he replies. "Yeah, I guess. A guy I know--Sean,ever heard of 'em?--has a similar theory, only less well-developed." 

Nodding, Lilith replies "He's a friend of Robyn's. And of course I know him! I know _**everybody**_!" 

Glaring at Lilith, the GateKeeper answers with "I've known Q's less arrogant than you!!" 

"Me? Arrogant?" Lilith answers, batting her eyelashes."Thank you for the compliment!" She passes him a flattered glance.  

TGK mutters something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like "bitch" then continues by saying, "Anyways, on with what you were saying. How come I wouldn't know of any attempted universal creation like that? Seems it would hit upon my job at least a little...." 

After glaring at him sharply, Lilith says, "Well, the labeling falls among something the universe seems to do automatically, it's an interesting phenomena, that I have yet to trace back... Umm I digress. Since it's self-contained, you aren't alerted to its presence in the cosmic balance of things. You don't have time to look at every dimension. Only ones that need you hit your radar, so to speak. Can I tell my story now?" 

"Sure." He replies, his face split open by an evil grin. "But don't for a moment think I'm gonna sit back here and do nothing--you give me a single opening, and the wise-crack's will start flying." 

Rolling her eyes, Lilith replies "Oh joy. Another smart-ass.Why do I even bother with you?" 

"Because," TGK replies quite seriously, "I'm a fundamental force of the Omniverse every bit as needed as you and there's no way to get rid of me, so you might as well try to have some fun with me? 

Lilith thinks about it for a second, then shake's her head and replies "Umm…No. That can't be it."  

Looking around, Lilith suddenly asks, "Can we order pizza from here?" 

Seeming a bit puzzled, TGK answers "Umm...no, I don't think they deliver to an address such as 'the closest trans-dimensional gateway'. Besides, in their time-stream this place won't exist for another 2500 years. But I got the next best thing!!" Crossing his eyes, there was a popping sound and two large meat-lover's pizza's appeared. "It's not delivery...it's Digiorno!!" 

Lilith laughed, the sound like peals of silvery bells. "That reminds me. Have you seen Raven lately?" 

Muttering in anger, he said "She still won't tell me what she did with that damned sword… 

Now it was Lilith's turn to look puzzled. Shrugging, she said "Raven gave it to Katarack. I thought you knew." 

Eye's opening wide, TGK nearly bellows "KATARACK!?! That shrimp? The sword's bigger than he is!!" 

Shrugging again, Lilith says "I don't know **how** he uses it, but he does." 

Shaking his head in resignation, he replies "So you're telling me that now we've got a foot-high dwarf with an Elder sword, strong magic, and a bad attitude traveling through dimensional portals? Probably farting all the damned way?" 

Lilith nodded and said, "Anyway, my story starts in a bar." 

Smiling wickedly, TGK starts singing in a horribly off-key voice. "Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name...." 

Raising her eyebrows, Lilith just says "Huh?" 

TGK continues singing in that horribly off-key voice. "And they're always glad you came/sometimes you wanna go where the troubles are all the same..." then he stops, looks at Lilith mischievously, and asks "Is Norm gonna be in here?" 

Rubbing her temples like she's developing a headache, Lilith answers "Okay, from this point on, I ignore you. Alright?" 

Winking, TGK answers with "Alright. Doesn't mean I'll stop." 

Shuddering, Lilith continued on. "My story startsin a bar named DragonHolme..." 

Eyes glinting again, TGK broke in with " 'Pronounced DragonH-O-M-E' by those without a cleft pallet."    


	2. Part One

**Chapter One: Re-Entrances**   
_(Death Becomes Her; or Are you sure those are post mortem muscle spasms?)_

_Close your eyes, relax and float downstream...   
It is not dying... it is not dying..._

The music floated through the air and hung there.  Chase was surprised; in a year a lot of things had changed so much. For instance, a new tavern had opened in San Francisco and it was a wonderful place. 

From her seat far back in the shadows, she could see almost everything. Her old friends were gathered on an upper level, talking, drinking, laughing, and watching their friend, Sam Guthrie, on stage with a makeshift band tear out some excellent music. She thought about going up to talk to them... but no. That could prove to be a very sticky situation. 

The tavern was a one-room affair with five separate levels. The lowest was the dance floor, which sank into the front-center of the room. Three staircases lead down onto it and the stage was set just below eye-level from the dance floor. The dance floor itself was unique in itself. It wasn't your usual black lacquer to reflect the dance spotlights. Instead, it was a fishtank. The tank was about six feet deep with actual coral formations growing on the bottom. Tropical fish swam about in luxury as people danced above. Occasionally, the right color of light would strike the surface and illuminate some previously hidden secret on the bottom. 

The next level was, for most intents and purposes, the main one. It contained the highest amount of tables and chairs, which were strewn about the room as if thrown in a tantrum by a baby ogre. The lighting was scattered and diffuse, bright in spots, dark in others, and in some in between. to Chase, it felt like being in a forest on a bright day with sunlight streaming throughout the holes in the canopy. 

Possessing a level of it's own was the bar. Tall tables and chairs littered the raised area, near the large fireplace set in one wall. Behind the bar was another tropical fishtank, showing off brightly colored fish. the few patrons talked and laughed quietly amongst themselves, making toasts and shattering their glasses in the fireplace.  The lighting was bright, like a living room, following the theory of a man named Mike that "people who like to drink in caves are mentally unstable"; yet the light, somehow, did not leave it's designated area, allowing the dimness of the area around it to go unaffected. 

To the left of the main entrance, and Drusilla (the seemingly unimpressive bouncer), was a staircase. Placed on each side of each stair was a candle, casting little light, but alerting the unwary climber to the presence of each step. These stairs rose one flight to a landing, turned, rose another flight, and leveled out at the next floor, where all of Sam's friends were sitting. This floor was against the wall on only one side, the others being held from the ceiling by steel cables, designed to hold candles as makeshift candelabras. in Chase's opinion, sitting up there gave a person the feeling of floating in the darkness.  Upon each of the tables sat a wine bottle, each with a lit drip candle glowing and causing the atmosphere of the floor to be permeated with an ethereal glow. 

Where the second floor connected to the wall was another staircase. It rose up ten steps and stopped at a catwalk. The catwalk ran along the wall, wide enough for two to walk abreast and for a third to stand leaning against the railing. 

At the end of the catwalk was another staircase leading up to a flat directly above the stage. Scrawled upon the well-lit backside wall were quotes from a number of sites. These quotes ran a gamut from serious: "It is the nature of mankind to fear what it does not understand, and what it fears, it either worships, or destroys;" to funny: "never try to baptize your cat;" and to foreign languages: "Je ne porte pas de pantalons." Aside from this wall the floor was relatively dim. It was suspended in much the same way as the lower one, though this one was more for groups of two and three, than larger groups. The tables were set against the back wall, leaving standing room against the rail. 

The overall effect of the bar was amazing, somewhat overwhelming to those who were there for the first time.  And the lighting seemed to posses a mind of it's own. It stayed in it's designated area, not affecting other areas; this made it so that you couldn't see what was going on in the other parts of the bar. 

As the song ended, Chase's attention was brought back to the dance floor.  She sighed and stood, preparing to leave, when a sharp tingling erupted in her skull. taking a deep breath, she turned and faced the door. A gasp escaped her lips involuntarily when she saw who stood there. 

The man in the entryway stood about six feet tall , his shaggy black hair lying limp on broad shoulders.  Chase took a step backward as he grinned, showing a gap-toothed smile. 

"Phineas." She acknowledged him tilting her head slightly, taking another step backward. 

Without warning, a blinding pain ripped through Chase's skull, and she crumpled to her knees, clutching her head. A commotion rose up top as Sam crumpled to the floor, hands on his temples. Phineas looked confused at the situation, but then he grinned and approached Chase, drawing his sword... 

Seeing this, the younger immortal struggled to her feet, and backed up, trying to bring Phineas in range of the debilitation brought on by Sam's quickening. 

Chase smiled as Phineas crumpled to his knees, turned against the pain- finally making it to her feet- and ran towards the stage, worried about her one-time friend.  She pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring gasps from the people who recognized her for who she once was. 

"Sam?" she asked, kneeling next to the spot where the young man knelt, clutching his head, trying to shut out the pain.  "Sam? Look up at me." 

He moved his head and looked at her through his blond bangs; blue eyes wide and dilated.  As soon as his eyes met hers, the pain lessened significantly and a confused look crossed his face. 

She opened her mouth to tell him things were going to be okay, when a shuffling behind her came to her attention. Sam's eyes widened further and his mouth opened to tell her something, but he was already turning with speed honed in battle. 

All Chase saw was a flash of steel through the air, in response she brought her hand up, wrapping her fingers around the cold, hard steel and pushed back, forcing the sword up and away from the both of them.  As she pushed, she stood, and brought her other had up, curled in a fist and slammed it into Phineas' solar plexus.  As proscribed, he crumpled to the ground, unconscious. 

With a sigh, Chase rose, ignoring the pain in her hand, and looked unflinchingly into the questioning eyes of the friends from a life left behind. 

"You should have your hand looked at..." commented Caitlin Fairchild, breaking the fallen silence. 

With a half smile, Chase held out her hand, palm up, to the small crowd.  A few more gasps went up as she wiped away the blood, showing electric blue 'lightning' arcing across the cut, closing it.  As they watched, the wound turned into a scar then disappeared completely. 

"How?" came a collective whisper. 

Before she could answer, Phineas came awake and rose to his feet with a graceful move.  "Should we take this outside?" he asked Chase gesturing to the door. 

Chase just sighed. "I won't fight you, Phineas. I won't." 

"Yes you will," came the reply, as he picked his sword up from where it had fallen. 

Chase put a hand up as Caitlin's boyfriend, Shatterstar, went for his blade.  Confused, he stopped. 

"No, I won't fight you." answered Chase. 

Phineas just grinned and said "Then I'll have an easy quickening, won't I?" as he swung the blade towards her head. 

At the last second she ducked and rolled out of his way, drawing a dagger from her boot, in order to provide some defense against the madman. 

"Fight me!" he almost screamed. 

"NO!" she answered. "Don't you realize that the Game is hoax?!" 

"I received the pages from that Wanderer person, but I do not believe it!" his sword strokes were precise, but Chase easily blocked them, using skills she had learned from other... friends.  "I will hunt you to the ends of the earth if I have to, Brandon, but your head is mine! There can be only ONE!" 

"Let it be known, " Chase said through teeth clenched with concentration. "That I have tried to talk you out of your idiocy. May the Gods forgive me for what I must do." with that, she flipped backwards onto another table and drew her sword. 

The blade glowed a bright blue in the faint light, and hummed a song of battle and joy in being in its rightful possessor's hand. 

The observers in the room noticed a change go over the woman they thought they once knew, that was once their friend.  Her face grew calmer and she seemed more balanced, poised, ready to strike.  "All right, Phineas.  Let's go," she said and stepped off the table. 

Phineas launched himself at her and she easily sidestepped the clumsy move.  The two combatants locked swords in a vicious duel that seemed like it could go on forever. 

Some people watched Shatterstar's expression off and on, not knowing themselves how to determine who was winning.  But it seemed that, even to Star, the battle was well defined.  For one, as anyone could see, Phineas fought dirty. 

At one point, Phineas was pushed backward with such force that he stumbled and fell.  Rolling away from Chase, he did the ultimate misdeed.  He turned and pulled a .45 from under his coat, aimed, and shot Sam through the heart.  Chase's attention was drawn away and to her horror, she found her friend dead. 

However, this shift of attention cost her greatly as Phineas drew his own dagger and plunged it into Chase's chest, puncturing a lung and almost completely disabling her left arm. 

In response, Chase followed his rules (or lack there of) and kicked the man in the balls.  As he doubled over in pain, she kicked him again in the ribs, sending him to his knees. 

"The Game may be a hoax," she rasped, coughing, her one good lung trying to do the job of two. "And you broke your own rules of play and drew a gun." 

"I didn't shoot you!" Phineas replied, growing desperate, feeling the pressure of the naked blade at his throat. 

"I don't care. You would have taken his head as-" she was forced to stop and cough, attempting to clear her lungs. "As soon as you had mine. And he's an External to top it off!" 

Phineas' gaze shifted in horror, to those standing around the fallen, yet healing, Sam, realizing what they were. "Oh, Gods," he whispered and looked back to Chase. 

Her once and former friends were shocked to the core as the one-time pacifist brought the sword up over her head, "There will be more the one," she twisted his own words and brought the blade down in a flash of steel and eerie blue light, decapitating the man. 

That done, she crumpled to the ground, coughing, drowning on her own blood, as she pulled the dagger from her side.  Not one of the on-lookers moved as a white mist rose and brought with it the crackle of lightning.  As lightning began shooting from the headless corpse, Chase barely moved; until it began striking her.  The energy pulled her into the air, sword still locked in her hand. 

The glow from the sword intensified and with it, the lightning storm.  It went on raging for what seemed like forever until one final bolt erupted from the corpse and struck Chase full in the chest, blowing her backwards into the far wall.  She slid down the wall and lied still, the blue glow of her sword winked out abruptly, snuffed like a candle flame, leaving the room in it's accustomed dimness. 

"Is she dead?" someone asked and the resident medical staff sprang to life, running over to check on her. 

"I-I'm fine," she mumbled, sitting up and coughing. "and Methos wonders why I hate the Game so much. I hate playing it. Hate hate hate!" then she looked up and seemed to notice, for the first time, their quizzical looks.  Sighing, she stood, somewhat shakily, dusting off.  Taking note that the unstable molecules that made up her semi-demolished clothing were already returning to the pattern they were used to, in effect, her clothes were fixing themselves. 

Every one of the observers followed her movements with practiced eyes.  The silence remained unbroken until Sidney pushed through the crowd, angry as a wet hen and twice as mean. 

"What happened?!  What in the name of the Abyss is going on here?!  I was only gone a few minutes!!"  She nearly shouted, breaking into the innermost circle. 

"Weeelllll...." Chase started, picking her sword up off the floor. 

"Where did you get that?!" Sidney asked, her eyes widening, pointing to the sword in her grasp. 

Chase looked at the woman, then at the crowd, and sighed. "Well then, it seems I have some explaining to do," she said to no one in particular. Then squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin, she told them "It's a really long story. Perhaps we should take a seat, get a drink, and settle in for a spell?" 

People gave her questioning looks, but took her advice and sat down around her, ordering drinks... 

**Chapter 2: Phantoms of the Past**   
_(How to Piss Off an Assassin; or, How do you fight to the death if one of you can't die?!?)_

 Before Chase could get her drink, however, she heard a familiar voice speaking.  "That was a bad move, 'Chase', for he was mine, and by killing him, the 'tract has shifted to you." 

 "I know that voice..." whispered Chase. 

 "Indeed you should, for though it was many years ago, I do not think it would be easy to forget. Recall the land of Ravenloft?" 

 At the mention of that name, Chase shivered. And everyone knew that it must be a very bad place, indeed, to make one such as her shiver. 

 "You defeated me at that time, but I swore vengeance. And now, I see that you have stolen my bounty! For this, you shall pay!" A man at the bar turns around and glares at her. 

 Chase walks over to the man at the bar and says "Do I know you? Your voice sounds so familiar." 

 "Yes, you know me" said the man "Though you know not this face. Here, let me show you!" 

 The man stood up, and his features began melting. His eye's and ear's became smaller, and his lip's less puffy. His cheekbones became higher and lighter, and his eyebrow's less bushy. His eye's gained a slight tilt, and his ears became slightly pointed. He did not look like Chase's picture of an Elf, yet neither did he look like a human. Rather, he looked like something in-between. The last time she had seen this Man--if Man he was--she had almost not survived..... 

 "Percevul!" she gasped. 

 "Ah, so you remember." replied the man. "You stopped me from killing Strahd, Scully (or should I say "Chase"?)." 

 "The Master of the Night!!" whispered Sidney nearby. "Is it really you?" 

 "Yes, it is. But my meeting tonight is because of Scully and her killing of that man. I shall meet with you later." 

 "You assassinated a dear friend of mine, and for that you must pay!" Continued Sidney. 

 With a wave of his hand, seemingly without paying any attention to what he was doing, all of Chase's friends flew back against a wall and stuck their, unmoving. 

 "I said I'd meet with you later. For now, you will not interfere." 

 "Percevul, I am so sorry" said Chase. 

 "Not yet, but you will be. Soon." 

 "All these people..." 

 "Worry not." answered Percevul. "I have placed a spell on us two. We shall go.....hmmmmmmm.......unnoticed. Unless we directly attack them, they will not notice the fight." 

 "But what if we accidentally hurt one of the innocents?" 

 Percevul stared at her blankly. 

 "Oh, yeah. I forgot. Completely amoral. Damn this sucks...." she muttered. 

 Then she whirled into action. Unsheathing her sword, she attacked him with a fierceness she did not have the last time they met. Hopefully, this would surprise him bad enough for her to get an opportunity for that lethal strike. 

 A staff appeared in his hand the instant she attacked, and he parried every move she made. She did not get even close to breaking through his guard. Then he shifted offensive, flipping over her and stabbing back with the blades on the end of his staff. She ducked under this and took a slash at his leg, which he jumped over. 

 Twirling his staff, he caught a thrust within the circle. The sword flew up and away. Then, viper quick, he slashed her left arm, cutting deeply as she attempted to attack with a judo chop, and then he stabbed her through the heart. 

 As she lay on the ground bleeding and [presumably] dead he said "The score has been settled." 

 But, as he started to walk away, he heard a voice behind him say "Not by a long shot, Percevul. _Do you know how much that stung?!?_"   


	3. Part Two

**Chapter Three: Voices From Beyond**   
_(And ven did you start hearing deeze voices? or Hey! Leggo my ego!)_

Percevul whirled around to look at his 'slain' enemy. "How?" he asked, confused. Then shaking his head he look at the blades on his staff; sure enough, they were covered in blood. He then looked back at Chase/Scully and shrugged, it made no matter other than the fact that he could kill her again. With a sadistic grin he launched himself at the recovering woman. 

Scully barely had the time to duck, let alone parry his next thrust, as he went for her during her supposed 'weakness'. She had to smile, little did he know, she couldn't have been better. 

Percevul saw her grim smile and redoubled his efforts; if she could smile, he wasn't trying hard enough. 

"What is your major malfunction?" Scully gasped out between blocks and jabs. 

"You aren't dead yet." was his direct reply, attention not wavering one bit. 

"Ya know, if I had *known* you wanted that piece of shit, Phineas, I'd've let you have him! Buuuuut, he came after me! What was I supposed to do? Roll over and die?!" Scully said through clenched teeth. 

Glancing behind her she noticed that they'd moved close enough for her to retrieve her sword. Without even the slightest _thought_ as to what she was doing, she ducked, rolled, and came up in the deep shadows, near her sword. Reaching out, she came up an armslength from the object of her attention. 

//Damn!// she swore. //Can't move, he'll definitely know where I am then.... He may even know now...// Making a decision, she closed her eyes and shut out everything around her, concentrating all her energy on the sword, willing it to move. 

She focused that will and reached out with it teaching herself as she went along. Suddenly, there was an almost audible 'click' and the sword slid into her hand, the blade glowing brighter than it ever had. 

The sudden light temporarily blinded Percevul, who had been sneaking up behind her, in the darkness. "Dammit!" he swore scuttling backwards. 

The angle wings that formed the crossguard on Scully's broadsword, began to glow a deeper blue than the rest, then the pattern grew and extended, holding the shape of the grossguard, but larger, and translucent. 

Confused, Dana looked down, but the crossguard itself was still intact. //What the hell?// she thought. //Wouldn't be a good idea to let Percy there know that I have _no_ clue what's going on.// 

The image continued growing till it was life-size and the complete picture of an angel, only, no halo. The two combatants stared in rapt silence, till the image encompassed Scully, making the woman glow about the edges. **"I am the Elemental Sword, Loyalty. Who disturbs our Quest?"**

**Chapter Four: Destiny Await's You**   
_(Elemental Swords and the People who Wield Them; or, Stand still!! Can't you see I'm trying to kill you here!?!)_

"Okay. Whatever." replied Percevul. This was but a trivial change; the task of killing Chase Brandon remained at hand. 

Grabbing his staff, Percevul launched forward with the blades--and stopped dead in midair. 

Scully--Chase--whoever or _whatever_ the hell she was, her attention suddenly turned to Percy. **"You, evil one. Your destiny is somehow linked to that of my wielder. She has encountered you before, and you shall have need of each other in the week's to come.**

**"There is a threat coming,"** continued the voice that was not Scully's. **"That may destroy you both. For your sake, I hope you can put aside you differences long enough to overcome it. You have a choice--you can either fight and argue and _die_, or you can cooperate and come out more powerful than either of you dreamed. The choice is yours. But until the date has passed..."**

Suddenly a bright light flashed, and a glowing blue chain made of pure energy passed between Scully and Percevul. **"You are bound to our cause. Neither of you can harm the other, for any reason. So shall it be."** And with that, the glow faded, leaving Scully to slide unconscious to the floor, and Percevul with far more questions than he would have cared to admit he had. 

**Chapter Five: Dancing in the Dark**   
_(I'm not as think as you drunk I am! I sweat to dog!; or, One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!)_

"Wake up!!" Dana Scully woke to the feel of a hand connecting to her face. 

"Uhn. I'm awake. Honest," she replied to the owner of the hand and sat up, clutching a hand to her forehead as her vision began to swim. "W-what happened?" she asked, looking up to meet Percevul's eyes. 

"You were unconscious. I had questions. You're in my hotel room." was all he said in answer. 

"Short and sweet. That was always your style." 

He halfway smirked and raised an eyebrow, "Are you prepared to answer my questions?" 

Dana looked up and couldn't help but notice the anticipatory gleam in his eye. It looked like he *wanted* her to say no. What she said was: "Why should I answer your questions?" //There.// she thought. 

"Because it would be in your best interest," was all he said in reply. 

"Are you threatening me?" She asked, her sudden braveness at him adding an edge of anger in her voice. 

Percevul just smiled. 

"Screw this! I don't have to tell *you* anything! You couldn't make me if you tried!" That stated, Dana stormed from the room, grabbed her conveniently placed purse ((wouldn't be a plot device would it? nah!)) and stormed out. Planning to call a cab from a local payphone. 

Meanwhile, back in the room, Percevul was staring at her retreating form not able to come close to hiding his shock at Dana's actions. 

//She *has* changed.// He thought. //Is it for the better?// In his mind's eye he reviewed the events from their two fights. //She's stronger, faster, and... Harder?// He shook his head and stood, walking over to the window. A peculiar feeling came over him as he watched her get into the cab, and the feeling worsened as the cab drove away. Percevul felt as though he had just lost something...   


***

Percevul let his feet carry him through the streets of San Francisco. He didn't care where he went, just as long as he got there. As he wandered the streets, he thought about many things that had happened in his long life; about Strahd, Scully, vampires, and various kills' he had carried out. But his thoughts seemed to always circle round once more towards the Sword--and the Woman who carried it. 

Slowly, so slowly that he noticed nothing, a mist sprang up around him, rolling off the bay like a white curtain, veiling all within its murky depths. Like no other was this mist; so close and thick that it seemed to press against your skin, and it carried a strong aura of magic. Cat's caught within it scurried home fast, and people that had never locked their doors before locked them tonight. Somewhere in the distance a creature howled; like a wolf yet not like a wolf, deeper and stronger than any wolf. If he had been paying attention Percevul would have known what that meant; unfortunately he was wrapped within his own thoughts. A nearby military base received 4 times the normal reports of UFO's; the police later discovered that, on that particular night, 6 times the normal number of people had disappeared, never to be seen again.....at least not in this particular world. 

The mist searched for one man, one creature, that it had come to find; the man who had once before escaped it's clutches. Upon finding this man--if Man he was--it grabbed him within it's power and attempted to bring him back to its place of origin. However, it was unable to do so--for, as it found out this night, once any creature escaped it's hidden power, it was unable to bring them to it's dark home realm, there under the rule of a vampire lord. So, it being impossible to take him with it, the mist dumped Percevul off at the nearest interdimensional nexus it could find.   


* * *

Hearing the faint strains of something, he looked up. Percevul found himself standing outside of a bar called Callahan's, with a simple hand-lettered sign. //Odd name.// he thought and decided to go in. //Besides,// he thought, //I could use a drink.// 

Upon entering the place, his senses were assaulted by the semi-familiar sounds of a large number of people having fun. He walked to the bar situated in the back of the room, sat down and ordered a drink. The bartender smiled and handed over the beverage, not bothering to ask for an ID. Nodding his thanks, Percevul accepted the drink and turned to watch the dance floor, he had that creepy feeling that he shouldn't have his back to the room. 

His eyes scanned the floor, noting every face and every nuance, until he noticed a familiar face among the crowd. He almost choked when he realized who it was. 

Dana Scully danced in the middle of the floor with reckless abandon, having already given over to a drunken state of mind, pretty much the minute she walked in; using her drink of choice, tequila. She occasionally felt the need to lose herself in such a way, so conducted this business in the bar owned by her friend: Mike Callahan. She went there, because no one would let some random immortal walk in and take her head. 

Percevul turned back to the bar, and paused for a second. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd noticed a six foot rabbit with a hammer and a seven foot Galactus with some sort of fish bowl/globe arguing heatedly as they walked towards the door. He closed his eyes, shook his head, opened his eyes and looked directly. Their was no bunny nor was there a Galactus. He debated with himself for several minutes as to whether or not he should open the door and check the parking lot. He decided not to based on two probable outcomes. Either A)There would be neither a bunny nor a Galactus. That would mean the strange place was getting to him or, B)There would be a six-foot bunny with a hammer and a seven-foot Galactus with a fish bowl thingy duking it out in the parking lot. He'd have to go home then. 

After several more beers, he picked up his glass and walked to the fireplace where he'd seen other people making toasts. Percevul's charisma and presence alone were enough to draw everyone's attention to him and to bring silence to the whole bar. Dana stared for a second, began to tell him off, then saw the expression on his face, and remained silent. 

"To death," Percevul said, then chucked his glass so hard that despite the strange shape of the fireplace, shards of glass landed as far as 5 feet from the point of impact. 

Turning and facing the room, Percevul told them "I kill for money. It's what I do for a living--and the only thing I've ever been good at. I probably kill more people in a month than you see in a year. And I'm damn good at it too. I tried to kill Dana over there several times for getting in my way, even though I don't really want to kill her." 

"What do you want?" Dana asked softly. 

"I--I don't---it's all confused." His voice dropped to just above a whisper. "My thoughts--I can't put them together. Not in any way that makes sense..." A look of fierce concentration came over his face, as he moved closer to Dana. He put a hand to her face, palm cupping the spot where he'd slapped her only a few hour's before; Dana only stared at him, not showing a trace of the fear she felt coursing through her from that primal instinct that humans had cultivated after *being* the prey for millennia. The instinct that gave humans the sense to know when the predator was too close. "I--for some reason, I want to be with you. But I can't.....I can't say.....whether it's to kill you......or just have someone to talk to." 

"You're drunk," stated Dana, voice devoid of inflection. 

"Yeah....but that's not why. I think.....I think...." Then he collapsed into her arms, unconscious. 


	4. Part Three

**Chapter Six: Truth Time**   
_(And next time on Martha Stewart Living...; or Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!)_

"I don't know, Mike. I just don't know." 

"If you ever need help Dana, we're here. You know that don't you?" 

Dana looked up into the big man's face and saw concern in his eyes. "Yeah, Mike. I know that. It's something, at least." 

"Now, we need to figure out what you're going to do about assassin-boy in there," Mike gestured over his shoulder at the doorway leading to the backroom; where Percevul was lying unconscious on a cot. 

"I think I'm going to ride this out and see where it takes me. He doesn't seem too interested in killing me. Besides, if he does get any ideas about *that*, he wouldn't be able to, anyway. He doesn't know how." 

"True, true," Mike nodded and slugged back the rest of his beer, then drew himself another from tap. As the bar owner, he could afford to treat himself. 

With a nod, Dana sighed and slid off her barstool. She walked over to the fireplace and toed the white chalk line drawn on the floor. "To life!" she toasted and chucked her glass into the inferno. The room fell silent as the implications behind the toast ran through the attendees' minds. 

Dana turned and went back to her seat. She turned to face the room and looked around. In some bars, you get the full attention of the bartender to tell all your troubles to. In Callahan's Place, you got the full and complete attention of not only the barkeep, but also the whole tavern. Everyone was willing to listen and offer helping comments if asked for. With another sigh, she began. 

"Some of you know me. Others don't. But even the ones of you who know who I am, and who I used to be, aren't even sure *what* I am." Michael Finn, the alien cyborg from another galaxy sat a little straighter ((Is that *possible*?)) and listened even more intently. "Actually, this is the hardest thing in the world to do, right now. Sit here and explain this. I'm... I'm..." she faltered, not knowing where to go from here. She gulped another drink and decided to start from the beginning. For the second time in 24 hours, Dana Scully told about the end of her life. 

"I used to be an FBI agent, partnered with a Fox Mulder, doing preternatural investigations on crimes and situations that couldn't be solved under normal conditions." Several people nodded; they knew this, they'd heard it before. "The end started at my first and second abductions. The first to install a chip that caused me to develop cancer; the second to remove said chip. After that, things went on in relative peace. *That* came to an end when I was kidnapped by aliens. By the Star Wars aliens to be exact." Dana gulped another drink and let this settle in, this was new to all of them; with the exception of Mike. "We did the whole Jedi battle thing, Mulder had enough force potential to *be* a Jedi, while I was a null. After we escaped that, locked in a chunk of meteorite, I.... Well... went for a vacation. on that vacation, I was held hostage by a group of mutants that believed that I was their enemy. A woman named Lilith saved me. She took me the Joint and I met the X-men. I liked it there and stayed. I was counted as missing somehow and Mulder went frantic trying to find me...." she stopped for a minute and stared into the fire, obviously remembering. 

"I became what is deemed a 'terrorist', even though I only bombed buildings that were holding innocent people against their will. But those were government buildings.... so I'm technically a terrorist. Doesn't bother me much; *I* can sleep at night. 

"Anyway, I digress. I ran into Mulder a couple times along the way in this 'trip' of mine. He was furious with me, even though he could never prove that I was actually alive." at this she stopped and looked up. She smiled the smile of someone who had seen so much in a short while that it should have driven them mad. But it hadn't driven *her* mad; it had only changed her, made her "stronger". 

Her face changed, became blank, smile wiped away like someone had taken a cloth to water and sopped it up; her eyes became mirrors, reflecting the room but showing nothing of what she felt. She looked directly into his or her eyes, and each person felt as though she was staring into his/her soul. Her next words chilled each and every one of them to the bone. "And then, I died." 

Every jaw in the room hit the floor. She didn't *look* dead. Just tired. 

"Hold on, I'm not finished!" she protested to the questions in their eyes. The room instantaneously fell silent again. "I woke up in the morgue and knew only to run. I ran and kept running. I was found by a man named Steven St. Wolf, he was also an Immortal and he offered to teach me the ropes. I now know the ropes and a *lot* of other Immortals. We fight to keep the Darkness at bay, to keep it from taking over the world. We fight vampires and other creepy-crawlies. We always have and always will. It's the way of things. I can't be killed except by decapitation. Other than that, you could probably hit me with Mickey there, and I 'd get back up. It'd hurt like hell, but I'd get back up." 

Everyone sat back and thought for a while. They all knew about Sam's type of immortals; the Externals. Dana's were different, you didn't have to be a mutant. It seemed like a completely random thing. 

Dana watched each person come to grips with what she had told him or her, then dropped the second bombshell. She told them about what had happened in the last few hours. About Phineas, and Percevul, and Strahd, and even the Game. She then watched them assimilate and accept these facts. 

"So that Percevul guy, he's an assassin that is tied to you to do some sort of thing involving destiny?" asked Long-Drink McGonnigle. 

"Yeah," Dana replied, "The only problem is, we don't know what this task thing is." 

"Have you tried asking the sword?" said Fast Eddie, throwing in his own two-cents worth. 

"No comment from that quarter." she said with a shake of her head. "I don't control its bouts of magical amplification, or whatever it is." 

"And I thought I had problems," this voice was that of a newcomer. Someone none of them had seen before. She had brown hair resting on her shoulders, and moved with a compact grace that suggested martial arts of some sort. "Here, I'll give you the address of someone you can go see in L.A. His name's Angel," she handed Dana a card. It was simple with an embossed logo that looked like a lobster at first glance; hell, even at second. If one studied it long enough, one decided it *could* be an angel. ((Huh. Now *I* digress!)) It also bore the address of a supposed "helper for those in trouble." 

"Thanks. I guess..." Dana replied, pocketing the card. "Who do I say sent me?" then, glancing at Eddie, added "If you don't mind my asking." 

The girl smiled. She'd been there long enough to know the tradition of whacking someone over the head with a blackjack and dumping them in the alley for asking nosey questions. "Just tell them you had a little "faith" show you the way." That said, she turned and left. Grabbing her quarters from the box on her way out. 

Dana watched her leave then looked at everyone else. "Couldn't hurt... I guess..." 

**Chapter Seven: Road Trip- The City of Angels**   
_(Go Play in Traffic!; or Road Rage? What Road Rage?)_

Dana went into the back room, then paused for a second. //Do I really want to do this?// she thought. //I guess there's no other way. We have to get this spell off.// 

"Percevul. Wake up, you lush. We've got traveling to do." 

"Uhhhhh." Percevul rose with a groan. "I feel like 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. What happened?" 

"You drank to much." she replied. "And you have the worst damned hangover I've ever seen." 

"Did I do anything stupid?" 

Without missing a beat, she said "No more than usual." She sat down next to him and explained about the brown-haired woman, the card, and the "helper of those in trouble" in Los Angeles. 

"We've gotta get there." replied Percevul. "I don't know what this spell is, but I want it OFF. I've already tried a spell removal, and *my* magic is dwarfed by that of *your* sword." he said the last with a semi-sarcastic tone in his voice. Having said his piece, Percevul stood somewhat shakily and made his way into the main bar. 

As Percevul entered the main bar, he noticed a few people staring at him. It was veiled, but if he hadn't learned to spot people watching him, he'd have been dead a long time ago. 

He paused for a second, then continued on. He could have sworn he'd seen a gray stuffed rabbit with an obnoxious voice talking to a German shepherd about women, but of course, that was impossible. He chalked it up to the hangover. 

As they entered the parking lot, he checked for both the bunny w/ hammer and the Galactus w/ globe, but did not see them. Then again, of course, he had no way of telling how long he was out. The could have just driven away. Or, considering what they were, hopped and floated away respectively. 

After much moving of the many cars parked in the lot like a toddler's temper tantrum, they finally had access to Dana's vehicle, so the two got in and drove away. Or at least, Percevul TRIED to get into the car. The damned thing was a gigantic Hummer, and his coordination wasn't the best at the moment. He kept falling, then had to rely on Dana's help. It was humiliating. (For Percy anyway. Dana thought it was hilarious.) 

After they had been driving for a while, Percevul yelled "STOP!!" 

"What?" said Dana. 

"Look up at that billboard. What do you see?" 

"I see a middle-aged man in a white cloak with a large, glowing hourglass painting over one of Satan's billboards. Wait a second...isn't that--" 

"Yes. It is. Can we start again?" 

"Yeah," Dana replied, knuckles white on the steering wheel with apprehension about what the hell she had gotten herself into. "Let's... continue on our somewhat less-than-merry way." Having said that, she pressed down on the accelerator and sped away.   


***

Percevul spent the better half of the next hour wondering who Dana had it in with. Finally, he just came out and asked. "Who in the hell are you friends with?!" 

Dana jumped and looked over at him. "Huh?" 

"First, you took a cab to the bar! How'd your car get there?! Second, we're traveling down an interstate, going about-" he looked over at the speedometer, "100 miles an hour, and we have yet to be pulled over. It's not that they aren't giving chase, it's just that California cops don't usually give up as easily as these ones are! In fact, the closer we get to L.A., the more it seems we're being *escorted*!" After his rant he turned in the seat as well as he could-- being constricted by the seatbelt she insisted he wear-- and watched her. Trying to see some sort of chink in her armor. 

Dana just smiled an "I-know-something-you-don't-know" smile and watched the road. After a moment of silence, she lifted a hand and waved at the police car that went speeding by, sirens wailing and lights flashing. At this point, Percevul noticed two things: 1) the police officer waved back; 2) it wasn't trying to slow them down, it was apparently clearing the way ahead for Dana's speeding Hummer. 

"You're not going to tell me a damned thing are you?!" he practically snarled. 

Dana's smile broadened at his anger. She didn't say a word. 

Percevul bared his teeth at her in a *really* good impression of a snarling wolf. 

Dana reached down and turned on the stereo, turning it up to tune out his attempts to intimidate her. "Ooooo! Madonna!" she mock-squealed and sang along, while Percevul writhed in his seat, wondering why he hadn't killed her a year ago when he'd had the perfect chance. 

Which made him think. //Why isn't she dead?// he wondered. //I know that was a killing blow...// Intrigued, he watched her from the corner of his eye, noticing that all signs of there fight were gone ((huh. Must have *great* perephial vision!)). 

She was singing along with the stereo-- it seemed there was a Madonna CD in and on continuous play-- the wind from her open window blew her flame red hair away from her face. 

She wasn't paying any attention to him, showing Percevul that she either wasn't afraid of him anymore or she trusted him. He didn't know whether to smile at the leap of faith or frown at the dumb placement of said trust. She kept her attention focused of two things: the car/road, and the song. 

"To known you.... Is to love you..." 

The words snapped him back to reality. An odd feeling came over him, listening to those words leave her lips. He realized that he wished she was actually singing to him and not *at* him. She looked over and caught him staring. She actually blushed, but still continued with her song. 

"If I'm smart then I'll run away... But I'm not, so I guess I'll stay..." Having looked up and caught Percevul watching her in the closely confined quarters of her car, she had been temporarily found off-guard. She had blushed and almost stopped singing, but decided to continue. She didn't know why she kept singing the song; she couldn't *not* notice the predatory gleam in his eye, or remember the confession of the night before that she had conveniently chosen to forget. 

"Heaven forbid, I fell in love with a beautiful stranger..." 

Suddenly, the music stopped in mid-verse. Percevul looked up from where his head was next to the radio and said "Listen. I hear something." 

By now, they were within the actual city limits of Los Angeles. Tall buildings rose around the street, closing in like a cage. As Scully listened carefully, she heard somebody shouting. 

"Spoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo--OOOF!". The word was cut off as a large man in a blue costume impacted with the concrete like a meteor hitting the surface of the moon. 

"What the hell was that?" said Scully, eyes wide. 

"I don't know. Just keep driving." answered Percevul, deadpan. 

**Chapter Eight: Angel and Co.**   
_(My So Called Life; or Hey! Don't you owe me three dollars?!)_

Percevul and Scully arrived at an old office building matching the address on the card. After they pulled up in the parking lot, they glanced at the sign in the hallway to see where Angel's business was. 

As they entered the room, they saw two men talking. One was an exceptionally large and well-muscled black man, dressed in flat-black Kevlar body armor, armed to the teeth. The other was a much more slender and incredibly handsome white man with black hair. Like his companion, the smaller man was dressed in black, with the exception of the white dress shirt with an open collar. 

As he entered, Percevul glanced at Scully's sword (which was glowing spookily) and suddenly whipped out his own katana. Moving into a fighting stance, he said "Come on, vamps. I dare you to try me." Then he attacked the black man. 

The black man spun into action, reacting to the perceived threat behind him. He laughed at the stupidity of the human that was currently attacking him; after spinning out of the way of Percevul's clumsy first approach. 

But Percy's first strike was a feint. He meant to put the creature off guard by helping him to think Percy knew nothing about sword fighting. His next move was to stab at the open and seemingly unguarded portion of the creature's back. 

But it expected this and dodged, bringing his own sword up to clash with Percevul's. Percevul was mildly surprised. This wasn't turning out to be too easy after all. His entire world closed in to focus on the creature. His vision was one thing: KILL IT.   


* * *

Dana was incredibly shocked. First of all, what was Blade doing in L.A.? Secondly, why had Percevul attacked? She knew he had a grudge against vamps, but was it really this bad? But her questions were put aside as she noticed the tall, pale vamp getting ready to try and break the two fighters up. 

"You're Angel right? And... You *don't* want to do that." she told him as he started by her sudden appearance by his side. 

"Yes. And why shouldn't I?" he asked, his deep eyes showing nothing. 

Dana sighed. "Because it'd be like breaking apart two pitbulls that haven't eaten in a couple weeks. You'd prolly loose your head trying." 

He gave her an incredulous look. "Prolly?" 

Dana grinned. "Probably. I've been in KC for awhile all right? Now let's get these two separated." 

"I thought you said it'd be like separating pitbulls," Angel said, confusion showing. 

"Yup, that's what I said. One of us could die trying. Hopefully it'll be me. Maybe you. But, then again, you *are* a vamp, you're already dead." she answered him while surveying the scene, trying to determine who would be easier to take down to end the fight. 

"'Hopefully it'll be you'! What are you talking about?! You're human, you can't die to protect me!" Angel seemed seriously outraged. //Weird, for a vamp.// thought Dana. 

She glanced at Angel and gave him a sardonic grin. "We're doing this together, and hopefully none of us go down. Is that kosher?" 

He just sighed and nodded, wanting to end the fight before Cordelia or Wesley came back and got caught in the crossfire. 

"Good. Now you go for Blade and I'll take Percy. I don't care how you keep Blade off Percy, just don't rough him up too bad. He tends to have a short temper. Got it?" 

"That's your entire plan?!" 

"Yup. We go on three." She glanced over at the two combatants, who were both pretty equally matched. If she remembered his sword techniques correctly, Blade was getting ready to swing away from Percevul to put distance between them to allow a little breather. 

"How do you know-" 

"Three!" With that, she launched herself at Percevul, wrapping her arms around his neck, rising on tiptoe; this interfered with his movement and his sight. But when she looked in his eyes, she saw nobody home. "Oh, shit." she whispered, her mind already rapidly reassessing the situation and formulating a new plan. 

The plan came with the flash of a lightbulb over her head; she re-remember the night before and added it to the moment in the car. Rising on tiptoe again, she kissed him. 


	5. Part Four

**Chapter Ten: Shakespeare Syndrome**   
_(Alas poor Chase, I obviously didn't know her as well as I thought I did; or When Death comes a-knocking answer the door in style!)_

Pulling out onto the road, a speeding GMC Jimmy attempted to make the hard turn around the corner, overshot, and in the driver's attempt to compensate spun out of control and sending it slamming into the front left corner of the Hummer, spinning it around forward, sending seatbeltless Dana flying out the factory-faulted windshield. The impact proved strong enough to recoil both vehicles, inertia slapping them backwards then forward again as more vehicles were involved on both sides. When the front ends met again, Dana was in the middle. 

"Oh my god!" Cordelia shouted, throwing open her door and jumping out of the car. 

"I-I thought Hummers were i-indestructable!" sputtered Wesley, sliding out of the car, and walking toward the front on wobbly legs. 

"Must have been some fault in the glass," muttered Percevul, trying very hard to feel nothing. //After all,// he thought. //Mortals have to die sometime.// 

"Do you think she felt anything?" asked Karen, standing and staring at the front end of both vehicles, Trying to see Dana amid the wreckage. 

"Let's get the cars apart," said Blade, "she may not be dead yet." He walked over toward the mangled front ends of the vehicles, placed a hand on each car and pushed. 

With a pained squelch, the hummer moved back minutely, then moved no farther. Blade pushed harder, veins standing out on his biceps and neck, and still the wreckage stood still. With a sigh, Percevul walked over and squatted down to look under the wreckage. 

"Hold a moment, I'll get her out without having to move them." Uttering a small spell, Dana appeared on the sidewalk midst the group. Amazingly, she didn't seem to be hurt too bad. 

Karen, the only certified medical practitioner among them, squatted and placed two fingers on the big pulse at Dana's neck. She sat still for a moment, then pulled her hand away and closed her eyes. "She's gone," she said, voice breaking.   


***

Thanatos watched to the side wondering where the young man had learned magic like that. But, despite curiosity, he was unable to ask. //Duty calls,// Death thought and stepped forward to take the balanced soul that was Dana Scully. 

As his fingers wrapped around the substance of her soul he tugged lightly, pulling the soul from it's mooring in this mortal husk. But surprisingly, it wouldn't come free. "What's this?" he wondered aloud, knowing no one would hear him among the mortals that stood waiting for the paramedics. 

But apparently, Dana Scully had another surprise for the Incarnation of Death: with a shuddering gasp, a moment of hyperventilation, and a cough, she came back to life. 

"What?!" was the consensus among mortal and immortal witnesses. 

"Oh...." Dana moaned, sitting up under the strain of protesting muscles. Then she looked up, straight at Thanatos. "Holy shit!" she yelled and scrambled backwards, hand automatically going to her neck. "But I'm not dead!" 

"That's impossible." replied the man within the black cloak. "My Deathwatch and jewels pointed me right here. The arrow was pointing AT you. You're supposed to be dead." 

When Thanatos spoke this, he suddenly became visible to the other people present. Angel, Blade, Cordelia, and Karen pulled weapons on him, while Percevul and Wesley attempted to calm them down ((Hey, one's an occult expert and the other's been a magician for 2,000 years. They should know, dammit!)). 

"Umm…I got better?" Dana replied. 

Thanatos ignored them for now. "Wait here. Let me call in some help." Scully watched as he lifted up a heavy, ornate watch and pressed down the middle button on its side. Suddenly, everything froze. The cars, the people around them, the clouds in the sky--*EVERYTHING* stopped moving except for Thantos, Scully, and her group. 

A man suddenly appeared behind Thanatos. Medium height, middle aged, with kind brown eyes. He was wrapped entirely in a white cloak, and he held a glowing Hourglass in his hand. He appeared to be the very same man that Scully and Percevul had seen earlier painting the billboard. 

"Hello, Death." said the new man. "What do you need?" 

**Chapter Eleven: Beyond the Infinite**   
_(Jesus Christ on a moped! You said this would be easy!; or Christian Doctrine? FEH! Throw it out the window!!)_

"Chronos!" breathed Scully. 

"At your service." replied the man in white, who then bowed. 

"This young woman," replied Thanatos, pointing at Scully, "was supposed to be dead ten minutes ago, according to my Deathwatch and all of my magical jewels. Do you know anything of this?" 

Chronos shook his head and replied "No. Maybe we should ask if anything strange has happened to her." 

Scully sighed. It looked like she would have to tell her story again.   


* * *

"And so," finished Scully, "then next thing I now, I felt a tugging in my chest, and suddenly I was looking up at Thanatos over there. I don't suppose either of you know about this?" 

"Nope." replied Chronos. "But I know somebody who might. Fate." 

Thanatos nodded. It did make sense; Fate arranged all deaths according to the Tapestry of Life, and she controlled what most people called Fate, or Destiny. She should know about this. Pulling out the button on his watch, and thus unfreezing time, he took all of the people in Dana's group ((that's Percevul, Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Blade, and Karen, just so you know)) into his car (license plates: MORTIS). Then he drove to Purgatory just like anybody else would drive to a market. Nobody was quite sure how he drove them to another plane of existence in a car, but they just accepted it. The alternative was to get so freaked out that they couldn't function. 

Suddenly, they pulled up at what seemed to be a spider's cocoon. Getting out of the car, Thanatos and Chronos gestured at the 'house' simultaneously. Shrugging their shoulders, everybody else entered the place also. 

Inside, apparently staring at a pair of broken scissors, was an old woman of about 75. Looking up and spying Chronos, a large smile broke across her face. 

"Chronos, you know you're always welcome here, but I'm afraid this might not be the best time." the old woman said. "As you can see, we are at something of a crisis here." 

"So am I, Atropos." said Thanatos. "And I smell the Evil One at work in both." 

"Sit down, everyone." replied Atropos, gesturing at several chairs and a sofa. "It seems we all have stories to exchange." 

"I think Ms. Scully could better explain." said Thanatos. "She has quite a story of her own, and it ties in with my own troubles." 

Atropos looked at Scully and said, "Please." 

With a sigh, Scully replied "It all started in this brand new bar..."   


* * *

"Well, that's quite a story." replied Atropos when it was all over. "But I'm afraid I can't help you. The Destiny Swords look into a current of fate higher than that which I control. After all, despite my own abilities, I myself am controlled by Destiny." 

"Now," interjected Thanatos, "tell us about the Scissors. I thought they were unbreakable." 

"So did I." Atropos answered. "But apparently, when I tried to cut Scully's thread here, it refused. And the Scissors kept trying to cut it, and her being an Immortal, it just wouldn't cut. Then they broke. It will be a long and difficult journey to replace them, if I can even find out how." 

Then a look of understanding crossed her face. "Your quest!" exclaimed Atropos. "THIS must be your quest. It would be an unacceptable coincidence for something like this to happen to you so soon after the Destiny Sword told you that a terrible quest was coming up. And I think I know how to get the required formula." Turning to a servant, Atropos said, "Summon Oberon." 

Soon, a loud knocking came at the door. Answering it, Scully saw a tall, blue-skinned man with long white hair and pointed ears, wearing kingly robes. Inviting him in, Scully noticed that his feet never quite touched the floor, and there was an *INCREDIBLE* aura of magic about him. Far, far stronger than any she had ever sensed before--excluding Lilith, of course. 

Setting him down on a suddenly free chair (Scully noticed that the sofa was now very cramped), Atropos told him of there troubles. 

"Aw, yes. The Scissors of Fate. I do indeed know how to replace them. This is it: 

Go to the world where thread falls ravenously from the sky-" 

"Thread? Eating stuff? Eww!" Cordelia cut in to receive a very annoyed look from Oberon and shushing noises from the rest. 

"As I was saying: 

"Go to the world where thread falls ravenously from the sky, 

"Win the future metal from its keeper, 

"Go to the world where Darkness rules day, and gain the blessing of the darkness' ruler. 

"This is where it gets hard." He told them, looking at each of our Questers in turn. 

//This is just where it *starts* to get hard?! Oh Christ! We're in trouble!// Thought Dana, her face blank, bordering on bored. 

Oberon continued. "From amongst the Nephalim, you must find the one who sees past, present and future. Gain her blessing in your quest. Since this is a hard task, I'll give you a clue. Impress her guardian and you'll have the key to all." 

Dana started to cut in and ask what the hell that was supposed to mean, but Percevul stopped her by holding up a hand and shaking his head, trying to get it across that the ruler of Avalon was being generous. 

"The last 'ingredient'-- as it were-- is probably the hardest, yet the easiest of the necessities. You must obtain the sword of magic and use a spark from it to light the forge." 

"A spark?" Dana muttered, "What's it do? Light up like a sparkler?" To this comment, she received a hard elbow in the ribs from Percy. "Okay, okay, shutting up now." 

"For the forging of the scissors, you must find the creature of darkness who possesses a soul. He must learn from the god Hesphasteus, as only his tricks of the trade will work. 

"The scissors must be forged in the place where science only exists in name and magic rules all. In this land, you must find a forge in the Isle of the Magicless. 

"To ensure the scissors function properly, use the 'six charmed' to ensorcell the tool of Fate." 

"My god, why don't you just hop down to Wal-Mart and *buy* a new pair for $2.99?" commented Cordelia sarcastically ((at least, I *think* it was only sarcasm....)). "It'd be easier!" 

"Because," replied Oberon with a grimace, "these are highly magical scissors. They are required to cut the Threads of Lives. No ordinary scissors will do that. Is that all?" he finished, looking at Fate. 

"Yes, thanks for your help." 

"Then I must be going. Pressing matters have occurred on my Isle. One more thing before I leave: Three must travel on this journey. No more, no less. Otherwise, you will fail." And with that, Oberon, King of the Magic Peoples, walked out of Fate's house. 

Instantly, Scully raised her hand to silence the torrent that she knew was coming. Then she said, "Me and Percevul will travel. It is our quest. We will not risk any of your lives by asking you to come along." 

"You don't have a choice." replied Angel before any of other's could talk. "You came to me for help. I'm coming with you if I have to chase you down to do it." 

Dana looked him in the eye and let it all bleed away. All emotion, all caring, all humanity. She showed nothing but the color in her eyes to the world. Her eyes were like those of a predator; she'd kill you and eat you, just for trespassing. 

Angel looked her directly in the eye and laughed. "You can't get rid of me that easily!" he chuckled. "I'm *Angelus*! I've stared down worse than Percevul and you think you can scare me!" he laughed harder, making the group wonder if he really *had* lost his mind. ((AA! He did that a long time ago!)) 

"You might as well let him come, Dana." said Percevul, a weird glimmer in his eye. "If he gets killed, it's just one less vamp. What are you worried about?" 

Dana sighed and shook her head. "Alright, you can come. But if I catch you trying to eat anybody, you're dead? Got me?" 

Angel smirked and nodded, holding up three fingers in the traditional "Boy-scout's Honor" trademark.  though Angel. //Is that they'll be needing *me* to forge those bloody scissors!// "On my honor, lady," Angel told her sweeping into a gallant bow, and kissing the top of her hand. 

Dana smiled and laughed. Percevul fumed. 

"Well, we'd better get you out of here. You have a quest!" said Fate. 

Dana groaned and nodded, not wanting to start so early. 

Time smiled and offered to take them back, "I'll take you back, Death probably has pressing matters in the way of finding souls, am I correct?" 

Death nodded and disappeared, while the group gathered together. Just as suddenly as Death had disappeared, they were back in Angel's office. Time saluted, wished them luck, and disappeared himself. 

"Well, its dawn," said Cordelia, drawing closed the blinds, so as not to fry her boss. 

"We'd better get some sleep," Percevul, noticing Dana wavering on her feet. 

"But I'm not--" she was interrupted in her protest by a massive yawn, erupting forth from her mouth. "--tired." She finished with a sheepish grin. 

"I can't do anything in the day time, and Percy probably works better at night anyhow, so we'll get some shut-eye and start at dusk," Angel added. 

"Don't call me Percy!" Percevul almost yelled the statement, himself grouchy from lack of good sleep. 

"Wow. Guys call *us* weird!" commented Cordelia, rolling her eyes at the guys and then nodding meaningfully at Dana. "I mean, he doesn't get onto *you* for calling him that..." she trailed off. "Hey! Waitaminute! Is there something going on between you two?" 

"No!" both Dana and Percevul replied rather vehemently. 

Wesley almost fell over, proving how on edge he was. 

Cordelia just rolled her eyes and said "Riiiiiiight." 

"Let's just get some sleep," said Angel, leaving no room for argument, and showed his 'guests' to their rooms. 

**Chapter Twelve: Road Trip- Mission: Impossible**   
_(Lions and tigers, and bears! Oh, my!; or Tom Cruise ain't along for this ride.)_

The next evening was chaos. Angel woke and spent the first thirty minutes after Blade and Karen left trying to explain to Cordelia why he *had* to go. Then Dana woke up and wouldn't say a word to anyone until she drank two cups of coffee. ((Wait, I take that back, she said a few words to Wesley when he wouldn't leave her alone, but they're unrepeatable.))*Then* Percevul woke up and flipped out because he didn't know where he was. It took Chase, Angel, and Cordelia to hold him down long enough for him to stop wigging out and realize where he was. From then on, it just got worse. 

"Umm... Guys?" Dana asked looking up from the paper. "Where are we gonna start?" 

"Start what?" asked Cordelia. 

"Our quest...." replied Dana, wondering about the poor girl's mental health. 

"Oh. Right," she answered, and looked intently at Angel, waiting for his answer. 

"Well, we should probably start with the blessing. It's the logical choice," comment Angel with a shrug. 

The ever-silent Percevul looked to Dana and finally said something. "You want me to tell him, or should I?" 

Dana sighed and dropped her head to table, leaving a resounding thud echoing in the room. When her head came back up, she looked tired. "I'll tell it. The only dimension that might possibly have a Nephalim, is off limits." 

"Off limits?" Angel's eyebrows shot up. "How do you set a *dimension* off limits?!" 

"Welll.... Hey! Watch it! If you're not careful, your gonna lose your eyebrows to your hairline!" snickers were passed around the table. "At least we've gotten past the 'Are you sure you're a dimensional traveler' stage a right on to logistics." With a smile, she took a drink of coffee. "the dimension was closed off by Lilith." 

"Lilith?" asked Wesley, mouth open. 

"Yeah, the Lilith you're thinking of. She closed it off to all dimensional travelers because the second heavenly war is in progress. She doesn't want any of us interfering." 

"Oh my," said Angel, sitting back in his chair, mulling the thought over. 

"Second... Heavenly war?" whispered Cordelia. "How is that possible?" 

"I recommend renting the movie 'The Prophecy'. It'll explain everything." 

"There *might* be one way." 

All eyes went to Percevul. 

"He speaks!" came from Dana in a falsetto stage whisper. 

Percevul glared at her before beginning. "If we had a self-generated, completely random portal, we *might* be able to reattach it to our destination." 

"First off," replied Dana, holding up one finger, "Do you realize how *impossible* it is to find one of those?! And secondly," she put up another finger, "It takes more magic than *anyone* here possesses, to change the direction of a portal. I can name maybe three people who could do it, and they wouldn't help us. Lilith, cause that dimension's off limits; Access, and he wouldn't cause it's against his prime directive; and Dr. Strange, which means null cause he won't help just cause theirs something about you that really pisses him off." 

"Well, rain on our parade!" came from Cordy. 

"Dana, we're just passing ideas here," said Angel putting a hand up. 

"Yeah, but she's right, we should be realistic." This came from Percevul, who was staring intently out the window. 

Everybody just sighed and went back to thinking. 

"I thought of another problem," Percevul broke the silence again. 

"What this time?" 

"Sunlight." 

"Huh?" said half the people in the room. 

"The sun." said Dana. "Angel goes 'poof' in the sun. How the hell are we gonna do this?" 

Percy sighed. "I *could* do a spell to make him immune it sunlight, but with him being a vampire, it'll only last about 24 hours. Then it probably can't be reapplied." 

"Well, it's 24 hours to find a substitute...... Would you mind doing it for us Percy- er... Percevul?" amended Dana quickly. 

All eyes were intent on Percevul and he just sighed and rolled his eyes skyward, wondering what he had managed to get himself into this time. But when he looked back at Dana, he felt a twinge inside and knew he wouldn't be able to resist that imploring look in her wide green eyes. "All right, but it'll cost ya." 

Dana's eyes widened. She didn't like that look he was giving her. "Cost what?" 

Percevul's eyes widened to false innocence. "Nothing more than a kiss." 

Cordelia's head shot up and her mouth came open to comment, but Angel's and Wesley's hands clamped over her mouth to stop the inevitable 'I told you so' response. 

Dana almost fell out of her chair. //A kiss?! Why a kiss? Oh god! The last time he was looking at me like that... It was before... in the bar... what'd he say???// Dana thought furiously, trying to remember what Percy'd said. //Dammit! I can't remember!// 

Percevul watched the emotions play across her face and decided he'd finally knocked her off-center. //She can be touched!// he thought, triumphant. 

"Why a kiss?" Dana asked, trying to regain control of herself. 

"Because that's the price." Percevul stood from his chair, gracefully crossing halfway to her, eyes flashing. "I could care less if vamp-boy there lives or dies. Why do you care? There's no telling what he'll do. He could've killed us in our sleep last night!" 

"My, you're awful vehement about that!" replied Dana, throwing herself from her chair and crossing to meet him in the middle. "What's your problem?! Since we started this whole trip, you've been all clingy and stuff on me! You're like a puppy!" 

"Me?! You couldn't go five feet with out getting yourself killed! Which brings up something else! *HOW* are you still alive?!?!?!?" the two argued while standing less than a foot from each other. 

"I've already answered that! The sword! It wouldn't go through all this trouble, just to get us killed!" 

"That's not god enough! I saw the fight in the bar with Phineas! Which reminds me! I still have to kill you for that!" 

"Guys!" Angel cut in. "Don't you think we should worry about our current problem before worry about debts?" 

Both heads swiveled to look at him with an identical look in their eyes. Angel just held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. They went back to arguing. 

"Well?" 

"Well what?" 

"Are you gonna tell me how you're still alive?" 

"Hell no! Are you gonna do the spell or not?!" 

"FINE!" roared Percevul who whirled around held up his hands to Angel. He began saying words in a strange, alien language. His hands began to glow, then Angel. After a moment, Percy shouted one last word and the glow vanished, ceased to be, there was no sign of it ever having existed. "There? Happy?!" he growled, turning back to Dana. 

"Thanks." she told him in a whisper, then leaned over and reached up to give him a peck on the cheek. "There's your kiss." she told the startled Percevul with a grin. 

But before he could reply, a bright glow and gale winds erupted in the room. Amidst the wind, a blue/silver hole opened up about 4 feet off the floor to spin off into the susbstance between the dimensions. 

"Oh, my god. It's a-" Dana was cut off as a person came flying out of the portal to land on Wesley. 

Dana dove towards the young man and helped him up. The portal spat out three more people before winking out of existence. 

"Thanks for your assistance... Ms..." the young man trailed off, staring intently at the woman who had helped him up. 

"Brandon." Dana replied then looked down at the remote he was holding. "Was that a completely random, self-generated transdimensional portal?!" she asked him excitedly. 

"How did you know that?" replied the young man. 

"I have some experience in directed dimensional travel." answered Dana, receiving several wide-eyed stares. "But what we need right now is to borrow that device...." she said gesturing to the 'remote control' in the man's hand, "and get somebody to direct it."   


* * *

"Looks like we're both in trouble." Percevul added when the two groups had exchanged stories. It had taken sometime to make the Sliders (as they called themselves) believe, but after a demonstration of Percy's magic, all argument was ended. What Dana knew but did not mention was that at least 2 of the Sliders were pre-immies. The young woman and the young man. 

"We can't control this thing, and I guess that's just what you need." said the Professor. "Look, we've had more than our share of adventures, and seen some truly wonderful things, but right now, all we want is to get home." Dana could see agreement shining in every one of their eyes. 

"Well, then we can help each other." Dana said cheerfully. "The magic that redirects the portal to the dimension we need will also be able to redirect it back to your home earth." 

"Only one problem." Percevul interjected. "We still don't know where to get the magic." 

"I-I think I can solve that problem." Wesley replied, only slightly fearful. "It say's here that there is an Omniuniversal Creature who has more than enough magic power to redirect the portal, although not enough to directly challenge Lilith." 

"You're talking about the Gatekeeper, right?" Dana said. At Wesley's nod, she continued. "Forget it. The Gatekeeper is no more than Lilith's interdimensional guard-dog." 

Suddenly, a soft, almost fatherly voice sounded. Although not loud, it was somehow powerful enough to quiet everyone. "I will do this for you. But you must not tell Lilith. She would crucify me." 

Raising her voice only slightly, Dana replied "Why? Why are you doing this for us, Gatekeeper?" 

"And old debt owed to and old friend." 

"Who?" Dana asked, curious. 

"There is a thing that nothing is, and yet it has a name/it's sometimes tall, sometimes short/joins our talks, joins our sport/and plays at every game." 

Exclamations of puzzlement erupted from around the room, Dana not least of all. 

"That puzzle shall do 2 things for you. It will tell you who my friend is.......and, if figured out it time, it will help you on your quest." 

Suddenly, the bright blue interdimensional gate erupted from Quinn's hand-held device, but this time it was different. Although there was only one portal, they're seemed to be 2 tunnels splitting off from it. One was normal blue, and into this one the Slider's were sucked. The other, a black one, sucked in Angel, Percevul, and Dana Scully. 


	6. Part Five

**Chapter Thirteen: The Second Great Heavenly War   
_(Angel spelled sideways is Angle!; or What evil lurks in the hearts of men? Beats the #@&% out of me!)_**

Dana and the group fell out of the portal......and into a screaming war zone of energy blasts, flailing swords, and half-glimpsed winged figures. 

"Oh, ye gods!" shouted Dana, dodging a sword. 

"You can say that again!" commented a figure, tall but not overly so with brown hair and eyes, who seemed to be apart of the fight, but perfectly human. 

"Oh, ye gods!" Dana repeated with a grin, dodging an energy blast. 

The young man shook his head, then seemed to take stock of the situation. "You're not normally a part of this fight, are you?" he asked. 

"Nope. In fact-" she was cut off by the sudden feeling of something looming behind her. //Spidersense! tingling!// she thought. //Dammit! I don't *want* to draw my sword in the middle of a heavenly fight!// But she changed her mind when she turned and came face-to-chest with one hella pissed off angel. 

Dana went for her sword, but was stopped in mid-draw when Percevul tackled her from the side. "*DON'T* draw that!" he whispered furiously. 

"How the *hell* am I supposed to defend myself?!" she whispered back, grabbing his jacket to keep the master of shadows from disappearing on her. 

"You're the one who apparent can't die! You figure it out!" and with that, he wrenched his coat from her grasp and disappeared in the shadows. 

Angel helped her back up, "I think he likes you more than he'll admit," he commented. 

"Now is *not* the time!" she yelled at him, pushing him away and whirling to face the attacker coming from behind them. 

She ducked down and planted her shoulder in his stomach ((I use the term loosely, she wasn't really sure)) and heaved, sending the being crashing over her and into another combatant. 

Then, as quickly as it began (for our heroes anyway), it was over. 

"Well, that was fun," Dana said sarcastically. 

"Yeah, well next time we go Questing, let's check our itinerary for battles! And avoid them like the bloody plague!" replied Angel, snarling. 

Percevul chose that moment to rematerialize out of the shadows. "Has anyone else realized that we've backed ourselves into a corner? 

Dana and Angel automatically switched modes. 

"Shit!" said Dana. 

The three of them backed themselves together, ready for a fight-- if necessary. 

"Who are you?" asked one of the fighters, presumably the good guys. 

Scully, Percy, and Angel all traded glances. 

"Chase Brandon," said Dana, spreading her arms wide showing she was unarmed. (Except for the sword. But with her arms spread, you can't see it!) 

"Percevul," he introduced himself simply, crossing his arms and scowling. 

"Angleus," said Angel, executing a small, yet flippant, bow. 

"Well, well, well." said one of the angels. The extremely tall humanoid, who wore a glowing stone from a chain around his neck, detached himself from the group. "A halfling," his eyes flicked over Percy, sizing him up. "A vampire," he said, moving on, his voice dripping with venom and eyes literally glowing with spite. "And...." he paused, seeming slightly confused. "A human." He seemed very amused at Dana's presence. 

Dana scowled at him and kept her place in front of her companions. "So," she said nonchalantly, looking at her fingernails. "Who are you guys?" 

The young man she had spoken to earlier stepped forward. "I am Master. We met earlier." 

Dana had a witty reply ready and everything, but at that moment, an Immortal stepped into her range. The pain started in her toes and ran up her body, the quickening firing every nerve ending along the way, only to stop and burn at the backs of her eyes and hum about her skull. 

Dana's eyes slammed shut, her hands clenched into fists, her nails biting into her palms-- the slight pain not even noticed-- and she slid to her knees, wavering there between going all the way down and standing back up. 

"BRANDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The yell echoed through the alley, all heads turning toward the sixth figure blocking the only way out. 

The woman at the end of the alley ran-- her metallic silver hair billowing out behind her-- towards the group with an expression of happiness and amazement. From the end where everyone stood, you could see her eyes glowing a steely color in the dimness. 

Unnoticed by all, a large shadow followed close behind her, sliding along the wall opposite Dana and her group. 

After getting a good look at the newcomer's face, Dana's own expression shifted to amazement slightly tinged with awe. "Zophy? Is that you?!?" 

"Of course it is, Brandon!" 

"What happened?" 

"Well, I died." replied Zophael. "But then I came back. It turns out that I have angelic heritage. It only needed my death to completely manifest." 

"Apparently it also turned you into one hella strong Immortal." replied Brandon softly, glancing at her "comrades". 

"Enough fun and games," Percevul said a bit to gruffly. "We've got trouble here." 

Suddenly the entire alley was covered with pitch-blackness. The sound of metal on metal rung out, and Scully could hear the man named Master say something to somebody named Edrus. Upon hearing that name, Percevul's mouth curled into something like an amused, mischievous ((Percevul michevious? And when did the world end??)), and slightly contemptible smile. 

The shadow cleared just in time to allow Dana a glimpse of the tall man with the glowing stone fleeing rapidly into the night. Then the new comer turned around. 

He was tall, over six feet, which made him *TOWER* over Dana and Zophy, while Angel and Percevul merely had to glance up a little. Although solidly built, little could be seen of the man because of his tasteful black-with-silver-trim plate armor. His hair was white as new-fallen snow, but the face was unlined and youthful. The eyes were pure black, without visible white's or pupils, and behind him rose a pair of velvety wings, although covered with black feather's instead of white like most angels. Although he carried no visible weapons, he moved with a speed, grace, and ease that belied the weight and bulk of his armor and told of his strength. 

The man, presumably Edrus, barely glanced at the group before walking up to Zophael and grabbing her by the shoulders and turning here towards him. 

"Think before you act next time, Zophy." he said, a tinge of anger and frustration in his voice. "Never approach an armed group like this that blandly. Remember, this is a war zone, and you can't afford to make mistakes. You make a mistake, and you'll probably die. You and a lot of people with you." 

Dana was about to tell this angel off when Percy elbowed her roughly in the rib. She gaped for a second--she'd NEVER seen Percy smile in quite that way, and had never expected to--then decided to shut up. 

"Training half-breed's now, Edrus?" Percy suddenly spoke up. 

Edrus turned towards the group and instantly spotted him. A cold smile broke across his face, but did not touch his eyes. Within his eyes was only a smoldering fire of anger that had no doubt lasted for ages. 

"You would be one to talk, you half-breed runt." Edrus said to Percevul. "I should have killed you when I had the chance." 

"You couldn't 1,500 year's ago when you were an Angel, and you can't now that you're a mere Fallen. Get used to it. As long as I'm around, you'll always be second best." 

"You're damned lucky that were not allowed to attack mortal's, you fucking hybrid." Edrus snarled. Grabbing Zophy be the arm, he started walking out of the alley. 

"You moron!" Dana whispered fiercely to Percevul. "That's the duo we need! The Nephalim and her guardian!" 

Suddenly panicking, Percevul said the only thing that came to mind. In a snide, smug voice, he said "How'd it feel to get ran out of Heaven on a rail, Edrus? To get thrown out the Pearly Gate's like a drunk out of a tavern? I bet it still hurts." 

This time, when Edrus turned around, there was more than a smoldering fire in his eyes. It was like a nuclear blast. "What'd you say?" 

"You heard me." 

"Now you're gonna die, you little bitch." With that, Edrus launched himself at Percy. 

**Chapter Fourteen: More Human Than Human   
_(Today class, we learn how one impresses an angel; Or Title by Rob Zombie?!?! We are so screwed!)_**

Before Edrus could reach him, however, Percevul was suddenly on the ground, looking stunned; a bright red handprint rapidly blossoming across his left cheek. 

"You IMBECILE!" Dana shouted, pulling the halfling to his feet. "I don't *care* what kind of a grudge you two have, but you are going to stop this pissing contest, try and recover from testosterone poisoning, then kiss and make up! I want this damned curse OFF!!" Dana then threw Percevul back to the ground and turned on Edrus, eyes flashing. 

"And YOU!" she stuck her finger in his face ((well, she tried at least. Edrus is like a foot taller than she is!)) menacingly. "You're an angel and.... and..." she trailed off, face losing it's anger as she tried to calm down ((Better than popping an aneurysm!)). 

Angel put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't you think you're overreacting a *little*?" he asked. 

"Overreacting?!?!?!" she asked, then stopped. "Uh-oh." she whispered, as her eyes rolled back in her head and her legs collapsed from under her. 

"Chase?!" Angel gasped, going down on one knee, taking her pulse. He looked up at movement near him. Master was kneeling across from him with a hand on Dana's forehead. 

"Why is she glowing?" Master asked, as Dana developed an ethereal glow about the edges. 

"Get away from her! NOW!" yelled Percevul, jerking Angel away from the woman's prone form. 

Master gave him an incredulous look, but did as he was told. 

Then, slowly, Dana rose. She didn't stand, she floated. She floated there a moment, the glow growing a little brighter with every moment, till her feet touched to the ground and she opened her eyes, staring at them. It was Dana's face, but they weren't her eyes. These eyes were black. The pure, fathomless black of the ages. She stared a moment, then spoke in a voice that sent chills down your spine, as you felt the same fear your ancestors had of the dark, while at the same time feeling warm and snug-- like you did as a child in your mother's arms. **"I am the Sword of Elements, Loyalty. I have seen ages pass and crumble before me. I will see ages pass and crumble again."**

"Holy shit." Edrus whispered. "An Elemental?! How did--" 

"Shut up." Percevul retorted quietly. "She has something to say." 

**"More of your quest has been fulfilled than you know. This part is nearly complete. To finish, you shall have to concentrate on a riddle proposed to you before you came here."**

Immediately Percevul's mind flashed back to the minutes and hour's just before they left. That verse, told by the Gatekeeper. Something about games..... 

**"The next phase of your mission will be one of the most difficult. In order to get where you must, you must find the being with the Shortest Name, amongst those who are all named alike."**

With that, the glow faded from Dana and she collapsed, caught by Percevul before she hit the ground.   


* * *

"Ug." Dana sat up with a groan and put a hand to her aching head. "Why do I feel like I have a hangover?" 

"Probably the after-affects of minor possession," replied a familiar voice with a fuzzy face. 

"Dammit Percy, stop being fuzzy! I hate it when you're trying that whole 'blend into shadow, holier than thou' crap! Stop it!" 

Percevul glanced up at Angel, "I'm not doing anything." 

Angel just shrugged. "So, Dana, are you ready to get back to work?" 

"Yeah. Might as well pay the proverbial piper." With this she stood, somewhat shakily, and turned to face Edrus and Zophael. "Umm..... Zo'..... We need your blessing on this thing." 

"Don't forget the part about the Nephalim's guardian," Added Percy, grinning evilly at Edrus. 

"Shut up, half-breed." Edrus replied. 

"Both of you shut up. We won't get anywhere if we keep bickering like this." Dana interjected. 

"How would my blessing help?" asked Zophael, mildly confused. 

"I'll answer that." Percy said. "As an angel--even half an angel--your blessing would be a direct blessing from god, and would greatly increase our chances of successes. We could get this from Edrus, but, well....he's a Fallen. One of god's Lost Children. It wouldn't work as well." 

Dana glanced askance at him, but let it slide--it was a fact, even if it was also a thinly veiled insult. 

"What we need from you," Dana said to Edrus, "is more in question. Maybe I said something that will clue us in." Turning to Angel, she raised her brows questioningly. 

"Don't look at me, I was more surprised than anything. I wasn't paying full attention. But there was something about a Riddle." 

"YES!" Percevul suddenly cried. "That riddle proposed by the Gatekeeper. There is a thing that nothing is/and yet it has a name/ it's sometimes tall and sometimes short/joins our talk/joins our sport/and play's at ever game." 

Puzzlement in they're eyes, everybody turned towards Percevul. Edrus alone seemed not puzzled. 

"Don't you understand?" Percy nearly shouted. "SHADOW!!! The answer is Shadow!! We've got a guy here--" he pointed in Angels general direction--"who has a major problem with Sunlight and a spell about to wear off. In addition, we have a guy HERE--"and this time he pointed at Edrus--"who CONTROLS SHADOW!! If Edrus could make some kind of permanent shadow surround Angel--making him walk within a permanent veil of shadow--he could walk about in Daylight. Then, I could cast an illusion spell that makes him look perfectly normal--nobody will notice the shadow at all." 

"Only one problem." Edrus answered. "Why would I do that for you?" 

"Because it's a good thing and you're a nice, kind person?" Dana answered. Percevul nearly fell down laughing, while Angel looked puzzled. 

"Edrus," Zophy said. "Would you do this for me?" 

Sighing, cursing himself for being to soft, Edrus walked up to Angel, Percevul's eagle eyes watching the whole time. Suddenly, Dana gasped in amazement--even standing under the streetlight as he was, Angel was covered in shadows. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Percevul's lips moving silently, and then Angel looked normal once more. The world had another Daywalker in its midst. 

"And now for the rest." Zophael said. "I give you my blessing on this quest. I hope you succeed and I wish I could go with you, but I've sorta got a war going here." 

"And as for me, you needn't worry." Edrus replied. "I'll survive. I always do."   


* * *

As Percy, Dana, and Angel walked into the coffee shop the next night (Percevul still preferred to do his "dire deeds" in the dark of the night) Percevul was telling Dana about what she had said this time. 

"Then there was something about calling on some being.." Percevul started. 

"We must find the being with the shortest name, among those who are all named alike." supplied Angel. Percevul glared at him, but didn't say anything. 

Dana looked up suddenly. "The being with the shortest name? Are you positive?" 

"Yes." Angle said, puzzled. "Why?" 

Dana sighed the sigh of the long-suffering. "Oh, crap. We've gotta call on Q." 

"Oh, no." Percevul replied. "No no no no no. We are NOT calling on that... that..... irresponsible child-like IMP!" 

Suddenly, a bright light flashed next to Percevul, and a man sat at the table where there was no man before, a man dressed in a peculiar red-and-black uniform, with five gold pips on his neck. He was leaning against Percy and looking at Dana. 

"You called, mon ami?" 

**Chapter Fifteen: Continuum   
_(The most Mischievous letter of the alphabet; or Star Trekin' across the universe, only going forward 'cause we can't find reverse!)_**

"Hi, Q," Dana said with a wholly false grin on her face. 

"Somewhat less than pleased to see me, I noticed. Well, what's this I hear about a quest?" Q raised an eyebrow, *really* wanting to know. He loved to get his fingers into any pie that seemed sticky. 

"Well...." Dana looked to Percevul and Angel. Angel put his hands in front of him, palm out, signaling his lack of knowledge. 

Percevul glared at Q. "We want nothing to do with your kind. Now leave." 

"Now now now. I happen to know otherwise," He tapped his left temple with a forefinger. "You can't keep secrets from the omnipotent, you know." 

Dana sighed a defeated sigh, thinking //I really seem to be sighing a lot lately. Let's get this over with.// "If you know that much, then you probably know the rest. Am I correct?" 

"No actually. I was being polite and not digging deeper than surface thoughts. Would you rather use words or..." He trailed off and spread his hands. 

"Just read my mind, Q. I know you want to. Nothing that doesn't have to do with the quest though!" Dana told him, knowing he would probably go farther than that anyway. 

"Dana, are you sure?" Angel asked, shocked that she would let someone read her mind. 

Percevul gave Angel a sharp look. "It's her choice. Besides, it's not like we could stop him if we wanted to. Do you even know what this is?" He gestured to Q. 

"I'm not a 'this'. I'm a Q." 

At Angel's blank look, Dana filled him in in layman's. "Q is a Q, a member of the Q Continuum." she put a hand up at his confused look, stopping him from asking a question. "Sounds confusing, but they're a group of omnipotent beings who treat the universe as their playground." Then she glanced at Q. "Actually, most stay home like good boys and girls, but Q here, can't keep his hands out of the cookie jar. That help any?" 

"A little..." Angel replied, looking to Percevul who was glaring at Q's self-satisfied look. 

"Well, Madame, I don't think I've ever heard it put so... succinctly before. Should we get on with it then?" 

Dana nodded and closed her eyes. And in that instant, it was done. 

"Well..." Q said, staring at Dana curiously. 

"Can you help?" Dana asked, trying not to sound hopeful. 

"Yes actually.... You know how I like to have my fun, correct?" He looked around at the gathered group who all nodded emphatically-- except for Angel, who really had no clue. "Well, with this scissors thing, it makes it harder for me to have fun. So I'll help you free of cost, so I can have fun again! Rather simple, actually. Even primitive creatures like Percy there ought to be able to understand." 

Dana and Percevul looked at each other and shrugged. 

"Well? Where do we go?" Angel asked. 

Q looked at him with a sharkish grin. "It's not a matter of 'where', but 'when'." 

"Well then, *when* do we go?" Angel replied. 

Smiling mischievously and raising the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, Q answered "Well now, if I told you it wouldn't be fun, no?" 

"Ah SHIT!" said Dana as Q snapped his fingers.   


***

The first thing Dana noticed was an all-encompassing white light, incredibly bright and yet somehow not hurting her eye's at all. The next thing she knew she was sitting in the lap of an older bald man with a startled expression on his face. Quickly glancing around, Dana saw Angel was sitting in the lap of an attractive black-haired woman sitting to the left, while Percy was placed at one of the station's near the movie screen thingy--knowing Q's sense of humor, that would be a subordinate's station. 

"Q!! What is the meaning of this?" asked a bearded man nearby. 

"Pipe down, Riker. Good god--I try to add a little variety to your otherwise meaningless existence and this is the thanks I get?" 

Quickly getting off the bald man's lap, Dana walked up to Percy--who was getting madder by the minute--and grabbed his arm. 

"Getting angry at Q won't serve any purpose, Percevul. Except, perhaps, to get yourself whipped out of the time-stream completely." 

Fuming in impotent anger, Percy walked over to a nearby wall and sulked, while trying to look imposing--which was rather difficult with the bright, cheery decor. 

"Q", Dana said, "just where and when the hell are we?" 

"Where is easy--your aboard the Starship Enterprise in Universe 2353.53.A, the Milky Way Galaxy, Alpha Quadrant, Sector 2453.5. When is a little more difficult--they don't use the Gregorian calendar anymore, they use stardates. In your time, it would be about the year 2475." 

"Okay, now if you could just tell us WHY THE HELL WE'RE HERE AND WHAT THE HELL WE'RE SUPPOSED TO DO!!!" Percy screamed, a vein in his forehead pulsing. 

All this time, the regular crew had been staring in wonder at these strange visitors, who talked to Q like they would anybody else. Running a bioscan from his tricorder, Data discovered that they all gave off human biosigns, but with significant variations. One--the woman--gave biosigns infinitely stronger than any normal human, while the shorter, dark-haired male gave off very few biosigns at all. In fact, if he didn't know better Data would have been tempted to believe that this man was dead. The other--Percevul, the woman had called him--gave off partial human biosigns along with those of an unidentified species. Q, of course, did not register on his instruments--he never had before, either. 

"Q, I demand to know the meaning of this." the bald man reiterated. 

"Simple, mon capitan." Q demanded. "I am aiding these mortals--" 

"Excuse me," Dana said, "but not a one of us really qualifies as a 'mortal', per se." 

"Alright, I am aiding these inferior beings ((later, Dana would swear she could distinctly hear every centimeter of that underline)) in a Quest they are under. I've given you the honor of being chosen to help, Jean Luc Picard." 

"I don't want to help, I just want to get you off my ship!!" the man--Picard?--responded. 

"And the quickest way to do that is to take them where they need to go." 

"Where do they need to go?" asked the Captain. 

"A small, as of yet undiscovered planet exactly one month, two weeks, and three day's away from here, traveling at Warp Nine, on heading 352 mark .98 ((If you're reading this and you know we're wrong, on how they do directions... TELL US! We'll be glad to fix it!)). Of course, after your part of the mission is over I'll have to mindwipe everybody and destroy all evidence that you were ever there. Humanity is not to rediscover that planet for several hundred years." Q answered. 

"Why couldn't you just snap them there?" the attractive woman (whom Angel had gotten off of a while ago) asked. 

"Well," replied Q, "where's the fun in that?" 

Then, in another flash of light, Q was gone--although Percy, Dana, and Picard were quite sure he'd show up again--Probably when they least wanted him around--while Angel just looked on with a bemused expression. 

Thinking it prudent, Data ran a weapon-scan on all three of the newcomers. It detected nothing on Dana except a small pistol ((Loyalty hides itself in an undetectable dimensional pocket when put away)), and on Angel, it only found two stakes and a knife, but Data detected enough weaponry on Percevul to arm the entire Klingon Army. Data prudently asked him to disarm. 

Percevul was reluctant at first, but encouraged by Dana he complied. From waist holsters, he removed two .38 revolvers. A little higher up, in specially designed pockets, he removed two more semiautomatic Browning 9 MM. From the side's, nearly on his back, he removed two Glocks, heavily (and illegally) modified for three round bursts. From shoulder holsters he removed two mini-Uzi's, also illegally modified but now for fully automatic fire. All of these were dropped in a large pile at his feet. He also dropped a broad sword and a Billy club. 

Gaping open-mouthed, Angel said, "Armed enough, Percy?" 

Smiling evilly, Percy said "Nowhere close to done yet." He then dropped off four daggers, a garrote, two throwing stars, and six throwing knives. 

Without showing any emotion at all, Data asked, "Is that all?" 

Perfectly silent, Percevul replied by dropping a bullwhip and two more guns in spring-loading holsters. 

Dana looked at him skeptically and, growling, he dropped a kitana and a six-foot double-bladed wooden staff. 

While everybody stared at him, Dana said, "Where'd you hide THOSE?" 

Percevul replied "You'll be MUCH happier not knowing." 

Dana shuddered and turned to the captain. "Satisfied?" 

Looking shocked, Captain Picard answered with "Yes. But I'm sure you'll understand if Percevul here is considered a high security risk from now on." 

Shrugging, Dana turned and looked to Angel. He grinned and said, "It could be worse." 


	7. Part Six

**Chapter Sixteen: Too infinity--and beyond!!   
_(How to bore an Immortal or three or; Don't you hate it when a shrink tries to psychoanalyze you everytime you offer to kill for money?)_**

"Well, that was not *my* idea of fun!" exclaimed Dana, yelling at Riker from across the table in the ready-room. 

Riker just opened his mouth to reply, when Picard cut him off. 

"Squabbling won't get us to this place any faster. It's obvious we've been 'selected' by Q to help in this leg of their quest-- whether we like it or not. We might as well grin and bear it, because our guests will be here a while." 

"Do any of you have special talents? We may be able to find things for you to do in the meantime between here and your stop," suggested counselor Troi, who was starring curiously at Percevul, from whom she was receiving some rather... dark impressions. 

"Umm..." said Dana looking at her three counterparts. "I used to be a forensic scientist for the FBI... Then I was a terrorist.... Now I'm a.... Well... 'Traveler.' Nothing special there." 

"I'm a private investigator," was all Angel could say. ((Hell, if he'd of come out and said: "I'm a vampire" Troi would've had him locked up for close investigation!)) 

"I'm am assassin." Came from Percevul who was still fuming and simultaneously trying to look intimidating to Riker for yelling at Dana. (()) 

"Percevul," Dana said through her teeth at the recalcitrant halfling. "I don't think that was an intelligent thing to say!" 

Percevul gave her an incredulous look. 

Dana sighed. "We'll be here a month. Surely you don't want to spend that time under lock and key?" 

Rolling his eyes, Percevul turned to face the shocked expressions of the ship's senior staff. With a shrug, he told them: "I only kill for money." 

Dana's head hit the tabletop. Repeatedly. 

After about the tenth dull thud rebounded through the room, Dana's head stopped, midmotion. Scully opened her eyes to find Data's hand on her forehead. 

"I do not believe you really wish to hurt yourself," he told her, his expression one of curiosity. Humans confused him daily. 

"Naw," whispered Angel, not knowing the android could hear him, "She'll only hurt the table top." 

"You're a psychopath." Somebody said from the back of the room. 

"Incorrect." Percevul responded gleefully. He'd been waiting for a chance to say this. "A crazy person kill's and doesn't know that it is wrong. They live in a fantasy world--they don't understand what they do. I kill for MONEY-as a JOB-and I know that what I do is wrong. I just don't care." 

"He's more of a sociopath." Dana added. 

"I don't think so." Deanna Troi said. "As far as I can tell he's is perfectly sane. I sense nothing wrong with his mind that would indicate a fantasy-world or insanity. I DO detect a sense of right from wrong" --Dana looked hard at Percy when she heard that-- "but as far as I can tell it doesn't extend to murder." 

"So what your saying…" Riker replied, "is that Percevul here is…selectively moral? He suffers from selective morality?" 

"Close enough." 

"At least he's unarmed." Geordi LaForge said. 

"Trust me on this." Dana replied. "If Percy wanted to kill somebody here he could do it with his bare hands almost as easily as with a gun. Hell, he's had enough years to learn." 

"Then how do we protect our people from him?" Picard asked her. 

"Simple." She responded. "As long as nobody pay's him… and nobody pisses him off TOO badly…and, of course, there are no vampires aboard, you should be safe." 

At the mention of vampires, everybody's head turned to her. 

"Shit." Percevul said. 

**Chapter Seventeen: Screw-ups in the Communications Systems   
_(Borg cubes and the asses who fly them; or How do you say: "Screw you" in Romulan? and other language lessons.)_**

After the grueling psychological examinations each of our "heroes" received, they were deemed okay to walk around the Enterprise, though not okay enough to hold a position of importance... Or a job at all. Therefore, our trio spent the next five weeks doing nothing. Even Percy got bored killing things with the safety protocols off in the holo-deck. 

So needless to say when the first ship-rocking blast came, these three were bored and ready for action. Even if they still weren't "allowed" weapons. ((We say it this way because.. well.. just cause somebody says he can't, it doesn't mean that Percy won't get a weapon. And Dana still had Loyalty...)) On board the Holodeck, the three travelers were engaged in a raging holographic battle of their own, but when the rocking came Angel and Dana stopped…Percy, though, continued fighting. 

"What the hell?" Angel said. 

"I think we've just been attacked" Percevul replied calmly, slaughtering another holographic Klingon. "Level 5, please. This is too easy." 

"What are we going to do?" Angel asked again. 

"Nothing." Replied Dana. "Unless we are actually boarded. We would only get in the way. If we get boarded, however, we shall kill anything that doesn't look Federation." 

"And how would we do that," Angel asked, "considering that you have no long-distance weapons and Percevul is completely unarmed?" 

"I'm more than fast enough to compensate for that." Dana replied, "and knowing Percy, he's got something deadly under his belt." 

"Damn straight." Percy said absentmindedly, decapitating an attacking holographic-Romulan. "I stole that weird looking 3-bladed sword-thing from Worf's quarters. And if he want's to make something of it he can go right ahead." He punctuated this by slicing open a Jem 'Hadar's stomach and cutting out it's spine. 

Dana glared at him. 

Glancing at her, he replied. "Hey. It looked cool…and it was a weapon." 

Dana groaned and rolled her eyes. "Only you, Percy, only you." 

"Only I what?" he asked, inadvertently getting distracted and getting smacked upside da head by another person. 

"Whoops, sorry!" called Angel looking halfway sheepish. 

Percevul looked annoyed. He opened his mouth to reply, but was knocked over into Dana as the ship was rocked by another blast. 

"Why Percevul!" whispered Dana in her best Scarlet O'Hara voice. "I didn't know you cared!" 

"Frankly Scully, I don't give a damn!" he replied in kind with a grin. 

The red-alert siren drowned Dana's answer out. "Dammit." she mouthed. 

"I guess," Percevul replied, "the shit has hit the fan." 

"Preach on, brother." Angel replied, grinning. 

Suddenly, the holo-deck cut off. A female computer voice said "Emergency power has been routed from holodecks to forward shields. Civilians using holodecks should report to their quarters." 

The computer voice stopped and was interrupted by the voice of Captain Picard. "Percevul, Chase, Angel-would you please come to the Bridge? There's something you should see."   
*** 

5 minutes later, all 3 of them were on the bridge. On the viewscreen was a hazy picture of a blue-green planet, apparently thriving with life. Hazy because it was seen through a bluish-white cloud sparking with thunderbolts. 

"That," Riker said, "is the Calamarain. They're blocking us.." 

"Who pissed in their Cheerios?" was the first thing out of Dana's mouth. 

Percevul feigned shock and Angel sniggered. 

Riker looked pissed and Picard answered her with a small smile. 

"The Calamarain are a race that strongly dislike Q.--" 

"Welcome to the club," mumbled Percevul with a malevolent look. 

"The Calamarain must have gotten word that Q was to be here, and came to retrieve him." 

"Very good! Mon Capitan!" came a voice following a flash of light and clapping. "Now the big thing is to get these three down there--" he pointed to the planet on the screen, "Without me getting taken, or them getting intercepted." 

"Why do I get the feeling he has a plan?" Dana asked Percy and Angel in a falsetto stage whisper. 

Q scowled at her before continuing. "I have taken the liberty of getting us out of this problem, with a minimal cost to any of us." 

The entire crew looked at Q with a skeptic's eye. He returned a confused "what?" look. 

"Okay, call me masochistic," said Dana as the ship was rocked with anther barrage. "but what's your plan, Q?" 

"Isn't that the captain's decision?" asked Riker angrily. 

"Somebody needs to act before we're ripped apart, personally, I don't want to die this way!" replied Dana, falling to the floor with another barrage. 

"We can send a subspace beacon for help, making the Calamarain think we're almost goner's. Hopefully they'll leave us alone. Then, we can get out of here." he replied, looking rather smug. 

His gaze was met with blank stares. 

Till Dana acted up. "That's it?!?!?!?!?!?!?! That's all? You're a six billion year old being with powers and experience I can't even IMAGINE, and that's your ENTIRE plan?! Oh gods! We're gonna die!" She threw herself on the floor, only to be picked back up by Percevul. 

"It could work if we rig the sensors or something so it looks like our warp core melted. If that's gone, a ship's pretty much dead, right?" he looked to Data who nodded. 

"It just might work, sir," Data said, looking at Captain Picard. 

"Make it so, then. Make it so," he replied with a sigh, nodding to the three perpetrators: Data, Percevul, and…Q. 

"Sir", came a gruff voice from behind them, "we have other problems. A Romulan vessel has been detected approaching. This is not unexpected-we are, after all, on their side of the Neutral Zone." 

Picard grimaced. "Great. Can you patch communication's through the ion cloud the Calamarain live in?" 

"Affirmative." 

"Then hurry up and do it!" Percevul cried. In the many weeks' they'd been here, he had made it a point to study alien species as much as possible, while keeping up on his fighting skills. He knew much of the history between Romulans and humans; consequently, he knew this wasn't a good thing. 

On the viewscreen, there appeared a fuzzy, staticy image of a Romulan commander. It was female…and blond. Percy did a doubletake-Romulans were genetically unable to be anything other than black-haired! 

"You are aware that your presence at this planet can be construed as an act of war, are you not? We demand that you leave the Neutral Zone at once or we open fire." 

"Excuse me," Percy blurted, "but we're currently getting our asses kicked by the Calamarain. Take a number." 

The blond Romulan glanced at him dismissively before returning her gaze to Captain Picard. "We will give you 10 minutes to disengage from the alien species, leave this planet's area, and return towards your own territory." 

"Are you stupid?" Dana said. "Percevul here's pretty much right-we're getting our asses handed to us." This was punctuated by another blast, making the ship rock and Dana nearly lose her feet. "If you wait long enough, in all likelihood they'll take care of us FOR you! And if they don't, we'll likely be weak enough for you to finish the job with minimal effort. But at the moment, we're too concerned with saving our lives to give a rat's ass about you." 

The Romulans looked angry and shocked. "Prepare to die then!" the leader cried and made to disconnect. 

"Wait!" cried Picard. "GET HER OFF THE BRIDGE!" He almost screamed, pointing to Dana. 

A startled Q and Angel helped Data and Percy escort the sheepish Dana off the bridge and down to Engineering to complete their project.   
*** 

"I really don't see why I need to be down here," sighed Dana, leaning against a wall in engineering. 

"Moral support?" replied LaForge with a smirk, looking up at her from his post looking over Percevul's shoulder. 

"Riiight..." Dana replied, bracing as another blast shook the ship. 

"It's because she can't keep her mouth shut," mumbled Angel from his post by the door. 

"And... I HAVE IT!" Data suddenly exclaimed, keying in a few more commends at the station he was manipulating diligently. 

"Just in time," responded LaForge, as the ship shook again. "Mr. Percevul, how goes the beacon?" 

"Just finishing,' Percevul mumbled, so deep in his programming, he didn't even deign to look up at them. 

//Talk about a crash course in programming.// Dana thought, scowling as the ship shook again in the continually escalating frequency. 

"How do we send this?" Percevul asked, looking up as he typed in one final command with an air of smugness and an evil grin. 

LaForge and Data converged on his console immediately. "First we upload it to a Subspace frequency... then set it on continuous run...." Geordi mumbled distractedly, attention on his work as he went the through the motions he named. "The we notify the Captain and begin the countdown to our 'Warp-Core Meltdown'!" finishing, he looked up and grinned before tapping his communication badge. "LaForge to Picard." 

"Mr. LaForge. Please tell me you have good news," responded the Captain immediately. 

"Yes Sir, I believe we do. The distress signal has been sent and we're ready for your word on the countdown." 

"Make it so Mr. LaForge. Make it so." was the satisfied response for a job well done before the connection was severed. LaForge immediately tapped some key's and the countdown began. 

"Make it so." Dana mouthed silently along with Picard, grinning. 

"Really, Dana." Percy said. "Mockery is beneath you." 

"Guys, don't get comfortable yet." LaForge replied. "We still have work to do." 

"What's left? We got this stuff done." 

"Yeah, but we don't know if it'll work. But, given that it does, we still have that planet below us." 

Dana, Angel, and Q all let out a collective groan. Percevul just rolled his eyes and didn't deign to respond. 

"We have attempted to scan it with our sensors." Data added. "I have also taken the liberty of searching our databanks for information on this area." 

Curious, Dana, Percy, and Angel followed the pale-skinned android to another console station and watched as he called up some information about the planet. 

"This is the third planet in the solar system, orbiting a fairly large yellow star. The solar system has 7 natural planets and an 8th planet--on an orbit that brings it very close to this planet--that is most likely a captured comet of some type. This 8th planet also passes within the Ort Cloud on the outside of the solar system, gaining a trailing silver cloud as it does so." 

"Our information," Data continued, "is somewhat more spotty as far as the planet is concerned. The Calamarain make scanning difficult. We do know that it is an M-class planet, with an environment reasonably close to Earth's. Its gravity is 7/8ths of Earth normal--a difference large enough to be noticed, but not to have any major effect. It's air is breathable to human beings and, in fact, probably far cleaner that that which you're used to." 

Percevul grimaced and muttered "Don't count on that." 

Dana glanced at him and was about to say something when LaForge interrupted the little scene with a good-humored smile and the words "All right, we're all set here. None of you can really do anything more, so you have my permission to leave. Go to Ten Forward, relax, and wait. It's really all you can do at this point." 

As they left, the ship was rocked by another blast. 

Percy had a hard time not laughing. 

**Chapter Eighteen: The Rain in Spain falls Mainly on the Plains   
_(Synthetic booze and why it sucks ass; or, how wasted can you get on "green stuff"?)_**

Ginan watched the 3 "traveler's" and the being known as Q as they entered Ten Forward. Although resembling a black woman of about 40, Ginan was not in the least human…and was probably closer to 4,000 than 40. In addition, the powers granted Ginan as an Elorian were many and varied. One of these powers allowed her to know what these people were up to. Gathering up the strange Tarot cards she had sat out on the counter, Ginan walked over to face the newcomers. 

"What'll I do you for?" she asked. 

"Red wine, chilled." Dana replied. 

"Jack Daniel's." Percy answered. 

Angel looked sheepish and waved his hand negatively. 

"What was that you picked up when we came in?" Percevul asked--part of his training had been in constant observation of his surroundings, and his eyes were sharp. 

"A psuedo-Tarot deck." She replied. "Given to me a long, long time ago, in another world and another time." 

Percevul nodded appreciatively. "Who gave it to you?" 

"The man in black." Ginan answered, and refused to elaborate. 

"Think you could see my future?" Percevul asked, grinning mischievously. 

"Sure." Ginan replied. "But I refuse to be held accountable for what the cards say. I read them, but I don't set them." 

Ginan dealed 5 cards facedown. Once card was set near him, two cards were set on the other side of that (one on the upper part of each side), and so on until all 5 cards were used up. 

She turned up the first card, saying "This card represents the essence of who you are." 

It showed a mummified man, with a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, it's eyes opened. It was climbing out of its sarcophagus. The swords handle was recognizable as a human leg bone, and the dagger dripped with blood. The picture was realistically detailed and extremely gruesome. 

"The Mummy." Ginan said softly. "Bringer of death and destruction. Creator of pain." 

Moving right along, Ginan flipped the card on the upper left of the Mummy. This was a shadowy picture of a man in a cowl, his face hidden completely by the deep hood. He stood in a dark alleyway, hidden by the darkness. Little could be seen except the vague shape of a man. It was not as gruesome as the picture of the Mummy, but somehow infinitely more disturbing. 

"This," Ginan said, "is the Man in the Shadows. He signifies hidden events, secrets kept." 

Moving her hand to the other side of the Mummy, Ginan flipped the card there. This showed a picture of an eagle, photorealistic in detail, flying up to a glorious sun and an infinitely blue sky. 

"Life," Ginan murmured, "but not for you, Assassin of Assassins." How strange, Ginan thought, that she should say something so close to what her old benefactor had said. 

The next card was a picture of a beach, white as bone, with a tropical sky and palm trees. The waves were frozen in a crest, and the beach itself seemed to go on forever and ever, to the horizon and beyond. 

"Fate," Ginan said. "For like the beach, Fate is ever changing and yet always eternal. You were caught in events not of your making. Do not fight it…for it is your destiny." 

The last card was a drawing of a single sword. Its blade was roughly 3 feet long, a strange silver-golden color like no metal they had ever seen before. The handle was black as deepest midnight. In the center of it's silver crossgaurd was a single red marble-like jewel, casting off a reddish glow. It's blade gleamed with a suggestion of incredible sharpness, and it's shape spoke of perfect balance. 

Immediately upon turning it over, Ginan crumpled the card in her hand and tossed it away. 

"That is not for you to know." Ginan replied to there blank looks. "When the time comes, the answer will be there." 

"Dana, Angel, Percevul!" Riker's voice suddenly came over the computer, startling them all out of the strange, trance-like state they had been in. "The trick seems to have worked…the Calamarain and the Romulans have both backed off. If we're gonna try to get you out, it's gotta be now or never. Report to shuttle bay, immediately!" 

As the 3 interlopers got up and left, Dana whispered to Percy "Well, that was…strange." 

Percy looked at her for a second, and replied musingly "I'd say it was more…enlightening." 

Neither of them was worried about the drinks they hadn't touched. 

Synthehol sucked anyways. 

Watching the group leave, Ginan shook her head gravely. She had misgivings about the one called Percevul… especially after what the cards had said…but she couldn't deny her wish for them to succeed. She hated to leave them only half-informed, but Fate had decreed they not be told. 

She tossed one more card onto the table after they left. The card she had palmed. 

The grinning half-rotted zombie clawed it's way out of the picture's grave.   
Death. 


	8. Part Seven

**Chapter Nineteen: Planetside   
_(Accidents and inquiries; or Somebody stop the world, I wanna get off!)_**

"It's a good thing I'm not too claustrophobic!" Dana muttered sarcastically, staring with bemusement at the extremely tiny and certified ancient run-about they had been given for the next leg of their journey. 

"You're the short and slim one, you shouldn't have that much trouble with the space," grunted Angel, who was in the strenuous process of helping Data open the rickety doors through sheer brute strength. 

"You're not claustrophobic are you? You were just kidding right?" asked a now-concerned Counselor Troi. 

Dana smiled thinly, "Just a little, but nothing I can't cope with. I mean, after that incident where I woke up in the crypt in a nailed-shut coffin..." she trailed off, realizing what she was saying and to whom as the assembled crew all turned odd looks upon the petite woman. She grinned shakily, but was saved from explanation by the sound of the run-about doors being wrenched open. 

Quickly, she headed for the opening, escaping inside from all questions and the inevitable answers, but not from Percevul's piercing look that told all who saw it that she wouldn't be able to hide for much longer.   
*** 

"You okay back there?" asked Angel, turning his head away from the helm only after they had safely passed both threats of Calamarain and Romulans to get a visual assessment of Dana's condition. 

"Yeah.. I'm good..." she replied, her voice strained and small. 

It was only then that Percevul chose to look at her. The assassin noted a few things that she wouldn't have wanted him to. Her hands were clenched together so tightly her knuckles were white, and her eyes-- though half closed-- were full of white, and her normally pale skin was now a ghostly white, washed out, a thin sheen of perspiration on her forehead. All signs of a phobia she probably wouldn't admit to anyone; even on the pain of death. 

Her head turned slightly, the emerald green orbs that passed for her eyes met his, and she smiled thinly. "Shouldn't someone watch the helm?" she attempted to joke, but her voice was too soft to carry the humor. Her companions wouldn't have even heard her voice if it weren't for the preternatural skills both carried. 

Turning back, he readied himself to guide the antique ship through the atmosphere of the planet, and hopefully to safety and peace of mind-- for Dana at least. Which, in the eyes of Percevul, wouldn't last long if he had anything to say about it; they would be having a long talk... and soon. 

"Dana, relax." Angel said. "This thing may be ancient to them, but it's still fairly advanced to me, and it's autopilot is very good. Besides, our buddy Percevul spent quite a time studying while on that ship, and sometimes I think his learning curve is a line straight up." 

Percevul raised his eyebrows at the compliment, but otherwise seemed not to acknowledge it. He muttered something about wanting to check on the rest of the ship and went to the back. 

"Holy shit!" His voice floated back to Dana and Angel, who both decided to investigate. 

The entire back of the ship was one large room, with a table in the center and cabinets along both walls. Percevul was apparently investigating the contents of one of these. 

As she approached him, he swiftly turned around and tossed one object to Angel and two objects to Dana. 

Looking down to see what they were, Dana only recognized one of them immediately. It was the small pistol that had been taken from her near to her first appearance on the Enterprise. She placed it in her shoulder holster without thinking of it. 

The other took a few moments longer to recognize, but she got it after a while. It was a standard issue Starfleet creation, a small hand-held particle beam accelerator known as a "phaser". 

"All of my weapons are in here, too." Percevul added. "Along with a few extra goodies, like one phaser each-along with recharge packs for when they start to run out of energy. Some padded clothing…thin and light, but I can't seem to penetrate it with any of my knives. Also these things." 

Percevul tossed to her a pair of dark red gloves laced with a network of blue lines, almost like veins. 

"Bio-mechanical strength enhancing gloves." Percevul said, answering her unasked question. "But there's only one pair, and as far as I can tell they run on a limited energy source. We should probably save them for a situation in which we really need them." 

Without a word, Dana stuffed them into her purse. She turned back just in time to see him holstering the last of his guns. He had reattached all his weapons so fast she couldn't be sure of where he had put them. That was when the alarm sounded. 

Rushing back into the "cockpit" of the outdated shuttlecraft, Percevul and Angel studied the instruments. Dana was busy having a panic attack. 

"What is it? What's the alarm? We're gonna die, aren't we?" 

"We're entering the planet's atmosphere." Angel responded, "but there seems to be some sort of atmospheric phenomenon creating the alarm." 

"I think," Percevul answered, "this is the 'ravenous thread' Oberon spoke of." 

"What makes you say that?" questioned Scully. 

"It's trying to eat our hull." 

"WHAT? What about our engines? Is it attacking them, too? Is it getting through? I was right, we're gonna die! Well, at least you are. I-" 

Angel turned around in his seat to see why she'd so suddenly shut up and saw Dana slowly collapsing backwards, unconscious, into Percevul's arms. 

"What'd you do to her?" Angel asked, his voice low and dangerous. 

"Nothing serious." Percevul replied. "A Vulcan Nerve Pinch to knock her unconscious with a minimum of pain and fuss. We don't have time for her hysterics. In an hour or two, she'll wake up with one hell of a headache. Other than that, she'll be fine." 

Percevul gently laid her down and looked up at Angel. 

"I will probably kill both you and her, eventually, and there's really very little either of you can do about it. But until this quest is over, you two are probably the safest people in the multiverse. So relax." 

Reluctantly, Angel sat back down in the science station. He didn't like Percevul. He didn't trust Percevul. Looking at Percevul-and especially talking to him--made Angel feel like his impending death was closer than he'd have imagined a month ago. He'd thought he'd accepted his death many years ago, but somehow being this close to what would probably be the eventual cause of it made him think differently. 

Multiple alarms started to go off on the counsels, drawing Angel out of his thoughts. One glance at them and Angel paled even more than he already was…which was quite the impressive feat. 

"Percevul, I'm afraid we have a problem." 

"What?" said Percevul, slipping into his own station. 

"The thread has eaten completely through the plastic sections of our nascels." 

"Does this mean what I think it does?" 

"Do you think it mean's were gonna crash?" 

"Yep." 

"Then you were right." 

"I hate it when I'm always right." 

"So do I." Angel agreed. "I'm aiming for the southern continent. The scans showed less rock and more comparatively soft soil." 

"So we'll be more likely to survive." Percy answered. "That's good. At the moment, I'm a little addicted to living." 

"Me to," Angel answered, "although I've kinda been dead for 300 years. Brace for impact!" 

That was when everything went to hell. 

**Chapter 20: Let the Dead Stay Dead   
_(Flashbacks WITHOUT the benefit of LSD!; or, take a guilt trip to revelation boulevard!)_**

When the ship crashed into the surface of the planet, it was doing just under 300 mph. The advanced metal alloys and inertial dampers attempted to protect them from the crash, but the impact was simply to great. The group was thrown free at the first contact, thankfully, but the speed was great enough to damage them all. Without his preternatural abilities granted to him as part elf and part Rûchen and Demon, as well as normal human, Percevul would have been a pile of assassin-paste instantly. As it was, he hit the ground hard enough to knock him unconscious for several minutes. But this was not an escape from the pain.   
*** 

2,000 years ago on another world, Percevul desperately rushed towards the fallen woman. With gentleness belying the actions of moments past, the apprentice assassin cradled the dying woman in his hands. Her dark red hair looked odd against his pure-black clothing. The red blood of her many wounds puddled on the floor, intermixing with the blackish-red of his own. 

"No." Percy muttered. "You can't die. I forbid you to die on me." 

"Can't help it." She muttered, her sky-blue eyes slowly going out of focus. "Promise me…" she coughed suddenly, more blood welling up through her mouth. 

"Promise you what? What!?!" It was too late. She was gone. 

Slowly, Percy picked up the fallen woman's sword and glanced back at Lord Albaron. The man quailed, realizing his mistake. He turned to flee. He was fast… 

But not fast enough.   
*** 

Groggily, Percevul lifted himself to his feet. The ship was in ruins, the hull ripped to shreds, lying several yards distant. Obviously, he had been thrown from the ship in the crash. Glissening strands of Thread fell freely through sky. The thread-ravaged body of Dana laid not 10 feet away from him, half-buried by the sand of the beach. Glancing up, Percevul saw that he had only been saved by a piece of the hull, which had landed in a tree above him at such an angle that the thread bounced off of it. ((Quite a coincidence, huh? ;) )) 

Percevul was not at all used to being knocked cold, and he had little experience with it. Rarely-- if ever-- did he encounter a kill strong enough to be a challenge, and even rarer was it for one of these to cause serious damage. Consequently, he had not learned the little trick's that allow one to regain the equilibrium of normal consciousness quickly. Still half-dead, all Percevul saw was Dana's red hair. Immediately he flashed back to that long-ago day on Neddra. Without a thought for his own safety, he ran to Scully's body, deftly weaving his way through the falling Thread, which seemed to be thinning. 

Grabbing her body, Percevul dragged it back to the shelter of the near-by treeline, noticing afterwards that the Thread seemed to have stopped. 

Immediately, Percevul set to investigating her wounds. The whole time, under his breath, he was muttering "Not this time, Arielle, not now…I won't fail you now…you won't die on me now…" 

It was hopeless. The falling thread had not merely damaged Dana's body, it seemed to have been eaten by it. The wounds were massive. Her muscles had been entirely eaten away on the left side, which hadn't been buried in the sand. Quite a few bones also seemed to have been eaten, along with most of the internal organs of that side. She was the deadest person he had ever seen. She was beyond the help of any medical attention or healing spell. Only the Gods could bring her back from the void she had fallen into. 

Percevul sat back and quietly wept. He did not sob or fall into hysterics. An observer might not even have been able to tell he was crying, for the only signs were the silent tears falling from his cheeks. 

He had been the cause of many deaths. Countless creatures had fallen to his sword, or knife, or his bare hands…beginning with the Lord Albaron. Since that day, he had never enjoyed the killing, but neither had it repelled him. It was simply a way to earn a living…and eventually, it became a part of who he was. 

But this hadn't been some random mortal who'd found out too much about him or some guy who'd pissed of the wrong people and gotten a big enough price on his head that Percevul would get involved. This had been…not a friend, but his first passing acquaintance in almost a thousand years. And, god dammit, she was so much like Arielle. Her red hair was merely the most obvious. She had that same fiery spirit…and quirky sense of humor…and so much else that he could admire, though he could obviously never admit it. And both had died as a direct result of his actions. If he hadn't been distracted at the critical moment…if he hadn't used the nerve pinch on Dana…if, if if. 

Slowly, Percevul laid the corpse of Dana Scully on the beach and started the laborious task of searching for large stones, then dragging them down to the body, preparing to build a cairn for her. Several hours later, the stones were gathered but not laid, and Percevul had expended the last of his strength. During the search, Percevul had noticed a set of human-like tracks leading off opposite from the position where Dana and he had lain. Tracking it back, he had found a crater-like hole in the ground. //Obviously// Percevul thought, //Angel had been thrown much farther than Dana's body or me. I'll search for him later…after my work is done.// 

When the stones were in a large pile, Percevul was able to go no longer. Determined to finish this grim business in one sitting and then get on with finding Angel and completing the quest, Percy ordered his mind in such a way that he would wake up after the first daylight started to pale the sky. Before he went to sleep, Percevul glanced up into the night sky, full dark having fallen while he was gathering stones. The assassin sighed to himself…if only Dana had been here to see this glittering, alien sky. There were so many stars in the sky it seemed like the whole universe had opened up before you. No city lights were there to outshine the glory of nature. 

That was what he admired most about Dana, really. Her simple ability to still be amazed by things. Although he didn't look it, Percevul was truly an old, old creature. Over the course of two thousand years, he had seen nearly everything you could see. There was little left to amaze him. 

Resolutely closing down that depressing train of thought, Percevul closed his eyes and drifted in the darkness. Within moments, he had fallen into his customary nightmare, the red-haired woman dying once more in his arms. But this time, to his surprise and massive discomfort, the glazed eyes staring accusingly at him were not sky blue…but a piercing, emerald green. 

Little did he know it, Percevul was in for a much greater surprise in the morning.   
* * * 

The order of events, as it were, were slightly skewed. Dana was used to waking up after death; for some odd, cosmically funny reason, she'd died a lot lately. 

So needless to say, when she'd gained consciousness *first* and not actual life, it was disconcerting. 

When she opened her eyes, or at least thought she did, she found herself facing someone who'd been left behind, on Earth, in a wholly different dimension. She looked into the silver-gray depths of Zophael O'Bannon's eyes and said the first thing that came to mind: "Aw, SHIT!" and sat up angrily. "There's no f'in way! I so did not get decapitated in that crash!" she finished, fuming at the mirthful Nephalim. 

"No," she answered, helping the petite woman stand. "I'm pretty sure you didn't. Because if you did, I prolly wouldn't be talking to you right now." The teen looked the older woman over, her eyes filled with so much other-worldly knowledge, they were scary. 

"Then where the hell am I?" Dana asked, looking around. 

Zophael shrugged and waved a hand. "I occasionally dream-walk. Or at least... do what I call dream-walking..." 

The blank dreamscape around them shifted, responding to Zophael's powers and unvoiced wish. It changed to show what Dana's open (and still dead) eyes were fixed upon: the alien sky above Pern. 

"Oh my..." whispered Zophy, Dana nodding in agreement at the beauty around them. The two were standing next to a large pile of stones, Dana's 'corpse', and the sleeping form of Percevul. Angel was nowhere to be found. 

"Well, anyway, I occasionally dream-walk; that is, view what's going on with other people in their dreams. Sometimes I can talk to them, like now. It's a new thing.... Well, new since you last saw me..." she hung her head in some un-known sadness ((A/n: Check out "Transitions"!!! Please?)), then perked back up turning to Dana again. "So this is the secret you were hiding. You should be dead and moving on to the next world, but you're not. What *are* you?" Zophael looked genuinely curious, like a baby who's seen it's reflection in a mirror for the first time. 

Dana didn't respond for a time, instead she knelt in the sand next to Percevul's fitful form as he tossed in a dream-ridden sleep. She placed a palm to his forehead, and he calmed, somehow feeling her ethereal touch. She then looked up at the horizon, using skills earned from years of hunting the things that went "bump" in the night to feel the sun, knowing it was almost set to rise. 

Zophael looked on the two, then looked to the sky. "Sun's gonna rise soon," she said, stating what Dana had discerned moments ago. 

"I know," Dana replied, turning to face the young woman and standing. "You should get home and...." she paused, "do whatever it is Nephalim do in the morning..." she half smiled, making a half-hearted shooing motion with one hand. "It's almost time for me to wake up." 

"You really should tell him, you know," Zophy told her solemnly, seeming wise beyond her twenty-three years. 

"It'll be kinda obvious in a few seconds," she replied giving a Zophael a 'duh' look and glancing at the slowly lightening sky again; the sun would breach the horizon in a moment or two. 

"Not that secret!" Zophael said, grinning. "I guess it's still a secret to you, too. Well, have fun explaining this one!" she told Dana waving before fading just as the sun crossed the horizon, blazing proudly in the beautiful morning sky and erasing doubts from Dana's mind with it's pristine beauty. 

Dana felt the Quickening calling her back to her body, and turned to go back, but not before hearing Percevul mutter one word before rolling over in his sleep: Arielle. 

**Chapter Twenty-One: Natives   
_(Never meddle in the affairs of Dragyns, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup; or This is *NOT* an episode of "Survivor"!)_**

The first rays of the morning sunlight hit his eyelids and Percevul woke from a fitful sleep, feeling as though he wanted his mommy. His ice-blue eyes blinked away the last webs of sleep and he sat, remembering the task he had to finish. He sighed and hung his head once before standing and moving to complete the job. Taking one step towards his pile of stones, he heard one sound that would echo in his ears for the rest of his life. 

Dana saw darkness again, familiar and luke-warm. Comforting, but wanting to let her go, pushing her upwards towards consciousness on blue-lightning fingers. The darkness receded and the fuzziness of her vision unclouded as she blinked air-dried eyes that immediately began to water as her body's systems came up and around. 

Her next sensation was one of suffocation and she struggled for a breath, the first loud and strangled coming from a dry and still healing throat. She fought off the urge to breath as fast as possible, her body trying to make up for lost air through the faulty path of hyperventilation. She lay on the sand gasping, staring up into the deep indigo-blue of the morning sky, trying desperately to get her bearings before Angel or even-- Oh gods, no-- Percevul found her and began asking the inevitable questions. 

Of course, if it wasn't for bad luck she'd have no luck at all. She'd recognize that tall, lean, narrow-shouldered back anywhere. Especially with it's careful, catlike poise. Even just standing there the body seemed willing and able to commit itself instantly to some violent action-probably a lethal one. 

It could be nobody but Percevul. 

The gasping sound was instantly familiar, and Percevul had a good idea of what it meant. It was impossible and likely a hallucination generated by the alien atmosphere, but he still understood. Nonetheless, his body reacted more or less by instinct, whirling around with startling speed as his hands went for the weapons he felt the most comfortable with. 

By the time his "whirl" was complete, his six-foot staff had appeared in his hands, having been hidden in some unknown place. What he saw scared the living shit out of the millennia-old assassin. 

"Are you gonna stand there gaping like a landed fish," Dana shouted at him, "or are you gonna help me up?" 

Stunned, Percevul walked forward slowly and offered his hand. Pulling only slightly, he virtually hauled her to her feet with no visible effort. He was still gaping, an expression of shock on his face. 

"B..b....b...b...bu....bu..." was all Percy managed to get out. 

"But." Dana supplied helpfully. 

"But..." Percy responded. "You...you...you're....you're dead." 

"Yeah...." Dana answered. "Umm.....I got better. What's over there?" 

Unfortunately for her, she'd underestimated the man's speed-though to give credit where it's due, you really didn't expect a man with no "feelable" aura of magic to move that fast. She didn't have anything to compare him to, but she was pretty sure he'd give a lycanthrope a run for it's money in pure speed, and there was nothing about him to indicate anything special. Consequently, her mind kept wanting to say that what she thought she'd seen before was imagination when it was actually quite true. It was infuriating. 

Although she'd kept a prudent distance as she'd walked towards the beach, he'd moved with such incredible speed that he'd been able get behind her before she'd known he was moving. She didn't have any time to react before he had a knife to her throat. 

"No." Was all he said. 

"No what?" 

"No more lies. No more secrets. No more games." Was the answer in a low, dangerous and wholly threatening voice. "You and I are going to sit down and have a long talk. You are going to tell me whatever secret you have been hiding." 

"And what if I don't?" Dana replied carefully. 

"I'm 2,000 years old." Responded the assassin. "Generally I just kill people, but I also know more about torture than you ever will. Unless you are very, very stupid in the next few minutes." As he said this he took the knife away from her throat-it had just been to make a point, really-and instead stood in front of her. 

Funny. Dana had known this man for nearly 2 months now, and she'd never taken the trouble to look into his eyes. When she did, she got a much better understanding of him. 

It was like looking into two chips of glacial ice, there was so little feeling. Gazing into those blue orbs, she knew instantly that this was indeed one of the greatest monster's she'd ever known. She'd fought evil, pure unadulterated evil, before...but Percy was something else entirely. Even evil...even the things that went "bump" in the night...attached a significance to death. Whether they reveled in it or hated it, whether they feasted on the pain or merely tolerated it, it was important to them. But to Percy, killing people meant no more than taking a walk. Maybe less, actually. It was just another thing to do. 

"Would you kill for my secret, Percy?" Dana asked in a voice just as low. She was teasing to cover up her sudden fear. She'd felt many things about Percy, but it was a long time since she'd actually been afraid of him. Dana wondered how she could have ever forgotten. 

"I'd kill for a chuckle, Dana. You know that.", came the soft, almost whispered, reply. 

Scully sighed mockingly. "For a moment I thought you actually had a heart." 

"I do. But it's somebody else's....and it's on a stake in my front yard." 

Dana glanced at his face, but she couldn't tell if he was joking. She decided to just assume he was. At least then she wouldn't be quite as freaked out. 

"The short answer, Percevul, is that I'm Immortal." Dana started.   
* * * 

She explained everything to him. All about her special form of immortality, about the Game, and about how one Immortal had revealed it as a hoax. She did not, however, explain the only way to kill one of her kind…that would have made his job far, far to easy. 

"So," Dana said when she was finished, "That's it. That's the secret I kept." //Though that ain't all, I don't believe in the old "lying by omission" fable.// she thought talking with him and pondering the meaning of her continued existence with part of her mind. //I really shouldn't be alive.. Immies aren't supposed to be able to regenerate large parts of the bady... Bits, sure, but whole body parts in a mere smattering of hours?? Something's definitely boosting my strength...// This actually bothered her more than she'd ever let show. 

Percevul nodded, the movement bringing her back to her version of reality. "You should have told me. I can't depend on you if I can't trust you." 

"I can't trust you either," replied Dana. 

"That's different." Percy responded. "I have never lied to you. I will kill you one day, and it will probably be painful. I keep no secrets." 

"Really? Then tell me…who's Arielle?." 

Percevul went deadly still. The set of his body and the expression on his face did not change, but something swam into his eyes that had not been there before. Something dark and liquid….something that showed a promise of dark deeds done in the dark of night. When he spoke, his voice was low and neutral…but it sent shivers down her spine all the same. 

"Don't ask me about the past, Scully. That world is dead. And life would be a lot simpler if things you killed stayed dead." 

"But Percevul…" replied Dana. "They don't always do that." 

Slowly he stood, and he walked-also slowly, almost lazily, but still with that gliding grace that would have been catlike, if it wasn't somehow coldly reptilian-until he was standing over the sitting woman. 

"Then let it die. Bury it in the ground and let it sit there and rot." His voice was not threatening, but somehow it was even more frightening. It was soft, quite…and completely devoid of any emotion whatsoever. Percy moved on slightly, walking downward onto the beach. He called back over his shoulder. 

"Let's get moving. We have to find Angel and whatever this world has standing in for civilization."   
* * * 

For a while, they traveled along the beach, moving parallel to the trail that Percy had found the other day and assumed was Angel's since it was the only one around. The tension between the two was so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

"What are those?" the Immortal asked, pointing. 

"I don't know," Percevul replied, interested. "Let's go check it out." 

Dana looked at him, startled. It was the most he'd said to her in several hours. 

As they got closer to the flock of creatures, they could see slightly more. They were roughly the size of a cat, with wings and four legs. They varied in color from gold, to bronze, brown, blue, and green. They also varied in size, with gold being the largest and green the smallest. The eyes were multifaceted, swirling vortexes of color. As Dana and Percy approached, however, the flock screeched piercingly, then flew a small distance out to sea. They landed on a rock and seemed to watch and the duo approach whatever it was they'd been circling around. 

There seemed to be nothing whatsoever-it appeared like a barren stretch of beech-but when Percevul bent down and wiped away some of the sand, he discovered that there was barely an inches worth covering some types of eggs. He unearthed a total of three. 

Two of them were large, slightly rounded eggs, covered with a mottled pattern of light and dark. The other was perhaps twice as large as the first two, and a uniform grey. When Percevul had them all set out, he noticed that they were gently rocking. 

"Percevul…" Dana said, glancing around. "I think something's going to hatch from these, and we've been provided with the stuff needed to feed them." She gestured at the sand. 

For the first time, Percy noticed the freshly caught fish. He didn't know how he could have totally missed them; his only excuse was that he had buried himself so deeply inside his own self that he hadn't been paying full attention. However, that didn't seem to matter much anymore…because the eggs were cracking. 

The first to hatch completely was the dark grey one, and immediately Percevul forgot about all else. He grabbed a fish, pulled a knife, and started skinning and chopping at incredible speeds. As an after thought, he threw a knife to Dana, who was busy with the other two. 

Without thinking of it, Percevul picked up the creature that had hatched from the egg. It was larger-about as large as the full-grown specimens he had seen-and pure black. Somehow, he didn't think this was normal, but it didn't really seem to matter to him. All he wanted was to feed it until it was happy and full. 

Slowly the creatures cries softened as Percy both fed and stroked it. Eventually it drifted off to sleep, as did Dana's creatures. 

Not long after, so did Dana and Percy. But before he did, Percy had decided on a name. 

He decided to call it Kalibak.   
* * * 

Dana didn't know what came over her. It was sort of an awaking of the natural maternal instinct, only about threefold that. She was, in an instant, willing to spend the rest of her eternity caring for the small and delicate creatures. Her will completely left as she was focused on one thing: feeding and making sure they lived. 

Dana didn't even have the consciousness to realize that Percevul was similarly entranced, even when she reflexively caught the knife he threw her. 

One creature curled in her lap, it's dull golden neck extended fully upwards to catch what she gave it and maybe even anything she dropped. The other, a mottled brown in color, climbed her shirt to her shoulder and positioned itself there, obviously thinking it had an advantage over it's sister on bottom. 

She didn't even realize it when the color came, the swirling patterns of blue and green that immersed themselves in her mind as if they'd always been there, but only appearing as the small ones decided they were sated for a time. 

Dana gazed at the two in wide-eyed wonder, not understanding, but not caring, but also realizing on some primitive level that this ritual made them hers. She pondered this vaguely and stroked the two under their chins, growing tired as they did, somehow sharing the experience of their hatching--a terrible, tiring ordeal-- and slowly let her eyelids droop as she lay down around them, curling to protect them from the night. Her last conscious thought was //I shouldn't be sleepy... I just woke up..// and before it was finished, she was asleep on the beach in the shade of a few trees. 


End file.
